


Tidal Wave

by PoeAllanEdgar811



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, George Weasley Needs a Hug, Healing, I'm Bad At Tagging, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-War, Sad George Weasley, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:13:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 37,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29769123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoeAllanEdgar811/pseuds/PoeAllanEdgar811
Summary: Two broken souls find themselves forced to Christmas dinner at the Burrow.Aurora Sinclair lost everything after the Battle of Hogwarts. Her brother was killed and her parents traveled the world in hopes that they would one day find happiness again. Aurora finished her education at Hogwarts and distanced herself from the wizarding world to attend university in London. She never thought she would find herself smack dab in the middle of the wizarding world again, especially after three years. But that pesky friend of hers, Ginny Weasley... well she has other plans.This story will contain MATURE themes (talk about depression, self-harm, alcohol/drug abuse, SMUT) and I will place a trigger warning before each chapter!
Relationships: George Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	1. Tidal Wave

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first time writing fanfiction in..... a very very long time. Hoping that I can get back to where I once was long ago :)

“Gin…” The brunette woman began with a sigh.

Thin fingers with tips painted black gripped tightly onto the steaming mug of coffee sitting in front of her. At twenty years old, Aurora Sinclair has seen it all, even as the youngest of two children born to Michael and Adeline Sinclair of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, England. Nibbling on her lower lip, Aurora let her blue eyes land on the ginger woman sitting besides her at the quaint, quiet coffee shop located on the outskirts of Muggle London. She knew her friend, her only friend really, would not let her leave without agreeing to come to the Burrow for Christmas dinner. “You know I’m not too great with crowds…” Aurora let out a soft giggle as she took a small sip of the scalding liquid before her.  
“And let’s face it,” She wiggled one of her thick, dark eyebrows before smiling again. “Your family is most definitely considered a crowd! And I mean that most endearingly…” She finished, licking her lower lip and setting the mug down on the oak table between them. 

“Rory!” Ginny exclaimed, almost out of frustration for her stubborn friend. “You said so yourself that your parents have not been staying home for the holidays and nobody should be alone, especially at Christmas!” The ginger ran her fingertips through the ends of her hair before flipping it behind her shoulders. 

Aurora sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. No matter how many days, weeks, months and eventually years would pass, Aurora’s parents could not handle the loss of her older brother, Michael. He would have turned twenty-four this Christmas but like so many others, he died on May 2, 1998. The Battle of Hogwarts. The day that would forever live on in infamy as the day Harry Potter finally killed Voldemort. 

But to so many families like the Sinclairs and the Weasleys, it was a day that brought a horrible ache which festered deep within the confines of their chests.  
“Uh – well, yes. Fine. You’re right, Gin.” Aurora smiled softly and absentmindedly rubbed her thumb against the rim of her mug. Her deep red lipstick smudged off against the white ceramic every time she brought the mug to her lips for a sip. Her deep brown hair was tied back in two thick plaits that reached down to the middle of her back.

Ginny smiled widely as her hands clasped together. “Perfect! So you’ll come, then? Mum will be so happy. Every single time we speak she brings you up because she says she misses her second daughter!” Ginny giggled and rolled her eyes at the thought of her Mum complaining about how Aurora never comes to visit.

“Yes… Yes I’ll come! Happy?” Aurora finished the coffee, setting the now empty mug down and dabbed the corners of her mouth with the napkin. “Now I must be going because Merlin forbid I’m late for work. The Friday before Christmas no less!” 

Aurora and Ginny both stood up and wrapped their arms around the other. “I’ve missed you. I know we’re both busy adults now, but I would truly like to see you more. No excuses either, miss!” Ginny wagged her pointer finger at Aurora before buttoning up her black winter coat. Aurora smiled and slid her own coat over her shoulders before fastening the buttons.

“Yes, Gin, I won’t be a stranger. I promise!” Both women left the coffee shop and walked their separate ways. Aurora deeper into Muggle London, and Ginny further away so she could find a safe alley to apparate back home from. 

After the Battle of Hogwarts, Aurora finished her studies alongside her best friend Ginevra Weasley. Her family home remained standing in Ottery St Catchpole and was only full of life every so often when she went to clean and water the plants her Mother was “trying” to bring to life. Aurora was a muggle-born witch, and although she was proud of her heritage she found herself become distanced from the wizarding world. After leaving Hogwarts, she rented herself a flat in the heart of London and soon after found herself attending university to study art. 

Painting has always been the only thing that pulled her out of her depression. She found herself often thinking about what her life would be like if she remained home with her parents, if Michael never died, and if she never locked her wand away in a box beneath her bed. 

Perhaps, one day.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Rubbish!” George grunted, almost animalistically, down at Verity who was waving a piece of parchment around vivaciously in his face. His hair was almost unruly at this point, atleast that is what Molly would say if she had been able to see her son. 

After losing his twin, George did not smile. He was not happy. He did not find joy in work, or in anything else for that matter. He never cut the hair on his face or ontop of his head. What was the point? He had nobody to share his life with, and not that he wanted that anyway. Fred was dead. And most of the time, George felt like he was dead, too.  
“George, please. I don’t see how the fact that I am requesting some time off is-is rubbish!” Verity groaned and slammed the parchment down onto George’s desk before crossing her arms over her chest. 

George normally towered over her but for right now, he had collapsed into the chair after moving a stack of papers from the seat to the floor. “Who is going to run the shop? V-Verity, you know that is just something that I am no longer interested in.” George stated plainly, his arms also now crossed over his chest. In what once would have been a brightly colored suit made of Dragon skin, George found himself in muted colors. The only thing bright about George Weasley was his hair and even that was pretty dull anymore.  
Verity sighed. She knew what George was going through and she felt for him, she truly did. Even though it had already been three years since Fred passed away, George was not getting any better. His family tried so hard to get him to be happy again. Merlin, even if he smiled atleast once they would have considered that a victory and a step in the right direction. 

Verity was opening her mouth to reason with George when the bell located over the top of the shop’s front door went off. “You can get that, Mr. Weasley. We’re not technically open yet anyway and I have to use the loo.” Verity cleared her throat and stomped off in the opposite direction, further towards the back of the shop. 

George glared at Verity as he watched her. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” He grunted and pushed himself up out of the chair before walking towards the front of the shop. “I’m sorry but the shop isn’t open for another twenty minutes, you’ll have to come back…” His voice was rough like gravel. He sounded mean, almost. To those who did not know George and what he has been through, most would think that he was a mean man.

“Oi… Not even for family?” Ginny exclaimed, her lips turned up into a wide grin.

“Especially not for family.” George wanted to smile. He wanted to laugh. He didn’t. 

“Well, in that case, I won’t stay long.” Ginny began, rubbing her upper arms slowly before returning her hands into the pockets of her coat. “Mum wants you to come home for Christmas. Dad made her promise not to bug you about your lack of proper hygiene,” She faked a cough and grimaced, “I mean your hair…” She finished with a soft laugh all while staring up with wide eyes at her big brother.

George stared down at his youngest sibling before letting out a soft sigh. “I don’t know, Gin… I’ll think about it.”

“You’ll think about it? George! Christmas is three days away. There is no time for the dramatics. Please come home. We miss you.” Ginny let one hand slip from her pocket and grab gently onto his forearm. “And we love you, too. We want to celebrate as a family.”

George sighed and moved his hand to gently clasp his sisters. This was the first time he showed any kind of affection towards someone since the night Fred died.  
George was too hard on himself. Blaming himself for the reason his twin brother was no longer walking along this earth. Blaming himself for many things, really. And deep down he knew he could not change the events that took place in that dreadful hallway in Hogwarts.

“Fine… Yes, I’ll come home for Christmas.”


	2. Stand On My Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Trigger Warning: mention about disordered eating*

_December 24, 2001_

Aurora found herself sitting at the vanity in the corner of her bedroom staring at her reflection. She knew her looks had changed a lot in the past three years. She always considered herself to be fairly in shape and healthy. After the war, she found herself skipping meals and borrowing a little white pill from her Muggle friend, Marisa, from university. Her cheekbones protruded a bit more than they ever have but Aurora didn’t think she looked sickly.

“I guess the black is a bit…morose.” Aurora spoke out loud to herself, flexing her fingers out in front of her as she inspected her nail polish. It was already chipping away at the edges and since locking her wand up beneath her bed, she did everything the muggle way. There were no spells to assist her with her nails, her hair, or makeup. Bloody hell, if she missed one thing about using her magic it was for the sole purpose of a quick fixes to her looks. Growing up, Aurora was always what you would call a girly girl.

Even throughout her years at Hogwarts, Aurora tried to look her best. Ginny would always make fun of her for it, lightly of course! Chuckling softly to herself as she dipped a wad of cotton into a capful of acetone before rubbing each of her fingernails to remove the dark and chipping polish. As she repainted them a bright and bold red color, Aurora found herself checking the time. She was officially on holiday from work and from school and would be free to do as she pleased for the next seven days.

Since moving to London, Aurora never really went anywhere or took time off. She busied herself with school and when she wasn’t in class, she busied herself with work. It wasn’t much but Aurora found herself working at the local bakery. Her love of creating things that brought joy to others was inherited from her Mother, Adeline. Adeline Sinclair was a Muggle. Meeting her husband, Michael, and learning that magic was real came as a big shock. Adeline almost left Michael after finding out but eventually came to an understanding about the new world she now found herself submerged in.

Once her nails were dry, Aurora pulled her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head. She had a slew of nice outfits picked out for tomorrow because one option was just not enough. Knowing that she was going to spend the night sleeping on the floor of her childhood best friends bedroom, comfort would be key for tonight. Soft black leggings hugged her short legs with black combat boots tied tightly on her feet, and one of her father’s Aerosmith (a Muggle rock band) adorning her torso, falling a bit further down her thighs since she was much smaller than her father, and she was ready to embark on her journey to The Burrow.

Pulling the zipper shut on her bag after triple checking to ensure she was not forgetting anything, Aurora tugged he bag off her bed and to the ground.

_CRACK!_

“You really didn’t think I would let you travel the muggle way, did you?”

Aurora let out a high-pitched scream at the sudden sight of her best friend standing by the night stand beside her bed. “GINEVRA WEASLEY!” Aurora narrowed her eyes at Ginny as her hands found their way onto her hips. “You’re bloody out of your mind if you think I am going to apparate with you! IF you think I’m going to apparate at all!” She scoffed and sat herself down on the edge of her bed.

Ginny smirked and rolled her eyes. “Aurora, do you know how long it would take you to drive to the Burrow? Not to mention it’s Christmas Eve. There’s uh… what do you muggles call it again?” Ginny chewed lightly on her bottom lip as her right index finger tapped on her chin. “Traffic!” She giggled out, covering her mouth as she collapsed onto the bed beside Aurora.

“Gin, please… I haven’t apparated in three years. What if I get splinched? Who’s going to tend to my wounds? I don’t trust you! Or your brothers, for that matter. Especially Ronald!” Aurora giggled back as she shook her head. Would traveling this way really be all that bad? Aurora did miss the quickness of being able to apparate to her next destination, but she prided herself on being a good driver now that she had been driving a car for the past three years.

“Oh hush! If you get splinched… and that’s a big if, Rory, Mum will be home, and she’ll be able to heal you.” Ginny explained with a shrug, reaching into the pocket of her jeans to pull out her wand.

Aurora eyed Ginny’s hand for a short moment before pushing herself up off the bed. “Fine. You won, let’s do it your way. It’s been three years, so if I get sick or splinched, I expect you to run me a nice hot bath and make me my favorite Weasley sweet to make up for all the pain and suffering I’ve experienced.” Aurora grinned and elbowed her friend before reaching down to lift her bag.

Ginny reached out first, though. Her wand pointed to the bag before whispering a quick shrinking charm so that she could tuck the bag into the front pocket of her jeans after inspecting the outfit Aurora was wearing. “How do you go on with no pockets?” Ginny questioned, her eyes falling down onto the black leggings that Aurora was wearing. Ginny’s free hand reached out and gently tugged up the bottom hem of Aurora’s t-shirt and smirked, “I think no matter how skinny you get, you’ll always have that round arse, Ro, and quite frankly I’m jealous!”

Aurora and Ginny both exploded in laughter, Aurora nudging Ginny at that comment. “Always a lady, Ginny.” She joked with a smile.

Ginny grinned back with a shrug. “You know me, Ror. This is what you get when you grow up with six older brothers.” She explained before holding her elbow out for Aurora to take. Slowly, Aurora reached over and wrapped her hands around Ginny’s elbow and forearm. A shaky, deep sigh escaped out between her lips before she squeezed her eyes shut when Ginny whispered over, “Get ready on the count of three.”

“1…”

“2…”

_*CRACK*_

Aurora felt her stomach contract, insides twisting all over as her world turned black. Once she felt solid ground beneath her feet, Aurora wretched herself away from Ginny with a loud gasp. “YOU SAID ON THE COUNT OF THREE! YOU DID NOT COUNT TO THREE, GINNY!” Aurora raised her voice and although she was angry and quite a bit shocked, she was also a bit frightened. Her voice quavering as she spoke, her hands trembling as she placed them over her stomach.

Ginny’s cheeks turned red as she watched her friend yell out at her. “Aurora, I’m so sorry. I thought it would be easier if it happened as fast as possible. You’re okay, I promise you, you’re okay.” Ginny whispered, slowly reaching out to gently rub one hand up and down Aurora’s back while the other one pulled the long strands of hair out of her face.

The front door to the Burrow opened, and in a split second Molly rushed out and towards the two girls who were standing side by side. “Ginny dear, what on earth happened?” Molly spoke softly, her tired eyes focusing on her daughter before she enveloped Aurora into a motherly hug.

Ginny didn’t respond. She would be sure to tell her Mum what happened in private. Molly was aware of Aurora and the fact that she refuses to use her wand, or any magic at all. “Oh, Mrs. Weasley, I’m so s-sorry for the commotion. I just,” Aurora shakily began to speak, her arms wound around Molly’s waist and clasped together behind her back. She missed this feeling. “I haven’t apparated since… since Hogwarts.” The brunette finished more calmly, pulling back to look at Molly with a sheepish smile. “I’m so sorry!”

Molly shook her head, smoothing the wild strands of hair behind Aurora’s ears and down her back. “Nonsense sweetheart,” Molly began, a soft smile on her lips as she pressed a kiss to Aurora’s cheek.

“Let’s go inside. I’ll make some tea and we can get you settled. I thought it would be nice for you to have your own bed while you stay. I’ve cleaned up the twins’ room for you. I believe I’ve gotten everything out of there that would cause any unrest.” Molly smiled and, together with Ginny, walked Aurora into the warm living room of The Burrow.


	3. Stranger In My Bed

After the fright of sudden apparition with Ginny, Molly made tea for everyone before sitting down at the head of the kitchen table. Her soft eyes ran over Aurora as she watched her gently sip at the tea cup, almost inspecting it for some type of magic.

“Are these normal tea cups?” Aurora giggled, her sudden anger towards Ginny was fading by the minute. “I remember you told me about the twins and those bloody nose biting tea cups, Gin.” She looked over to her friend with a smile.

Ginny laughed too, shaking her head. “No, these will not bite your nose. Mum locked those up somewhere… didn’t want to get rid of them completely, though.” Ginny said with a sad smile. Aurora nodded. She understood why. She wouldn’t bring up Fred. Or George, for that matter. From what Ginny has told her, George is a bit of a recluse and they weren’t even sure if he was going to attend Christmas dinner.

Christmas Eve at the Burrow was nice and quiet. Harry would be joining them in the morning, as well as Hermione too. Ron was quiet the whole night, other than greeting Aurora with a gentle hug and a kiss to the cheek. “You look great, Ror.” Ron had whispered as his hand rested on her upper arms. “Dad will be down shortly, and you know he’s going to bug you about the latest muggle inventions. He’s been extra giddy lately, you’ve been warned.” Ron laughed before walking up the stairs to head to his room.

Ginny laughed from her spot on the couch, her eyes never leaving the fire blazing in the fireplace before her, though. “Ron’s right. Dad has been bonkers the past few days when I told him you were going to come and spend the holidays with us. He can’t wait to ask you about, well, anything and everything.”

Aurora smiled. She liked Arthur, always had. He was a gentle soul and a caring father and husband. Michael Sinclair Sr. was also a caring man, but after the war he would sometimes get too engrossed in other things to remember he had one living child left. The warmth from all the Weasleys – well at least the ones already here – was welcome. Aurora found herself settled down beside on the couch just as Ginny was returning with a bottle of firewhiskey and two glass tumblers. “Try to keep your voice down… This is Ron’s stash and he doesn’t know I’ve been snagging a few drinks from it lately.” Ginny smirked, glancing over to Aurora and pouring both of them a hefty amount before glancing around the empty living room.

Everyone had gone to bed as the clock struck midnight. Ginny was getting tired but she wanted to have at least one drink with her friend to catch up before the craziness that is Christmas at the Burrow tomorrow. “So tell me what living like a muggle has been like for you.” Ginny began, eyebrow raised high as she took a small sip of the amber, burning liquor.

Aurora smiled, took a large sip of the firewhiskey before setting the glass down. “Well,” she cleared her throat and leaned back against the arm of the couch, one leg tucked beneath her bottom while the other dangled off the side. She didn’t want to admit she missed magic. She didn’t want to admit that every night she pulls out the lock box with her wand, holding it in her lap as she thinks back on all of the good, and sometimes bad, memories of being a witch.

“It’s nothing crazy, you know… I’m used to the muggle life since Mum was a muggle. In the beginning it took me a while to get used to, you know the whole no magic thing. But I really do enjoy working at the bakery, Gin. You know anytime I came over throughout school I would help your Mum in the kitchen.” Aurora smiled softly, tucking a rouge strand of hair behind her ear. “It always brought me peace. Creating something from nothing… the muggle way, anyhow.” She laughed, glancing up at Ginny who was sitting there looking back at her friend with a smile on her face.

Ginny finished off the glass of whiskey before licking her lips. “What about dating? Do you have anyone special in your life?”

Aurora’s fingers twitched around the glass of amber liquor at Ginny’s interest in her personal life. Actually, Ginny was probably more interested in her sex life. Growing up with all boys, neither Aurora nor Ginny having had any sisters to talk to about these sorts of things, often times found themselves awake and giggly, siting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room discussing who the cutest boy in their year was and what it would be like to snog them. She missed this. It was nice. It felt as though no time at all had passed.

“Nope.” Aurora shook her head and finished off her own glass. “Not dating anyone. How can I love someone else when I don’t even love myself, Gin?”

“For Merlin’s sake Aurora, you do not need to get so dramatic and serious about it! You can still go on dates just for fun. What about sex? Are you at least having bloody sex?!” Ginny’s voice was a bit too loud for Aurora’s liking so the second time the word sex escaped her lips, Aurora shot over and clamped her hand over Ginny’s mouth.

“Gin, please, I do not want your parents listening in on how pathetic my sex life is!” Aurora giggled, the firewhiskey starting to take effect. “But to answer your question,” She pulled her hand away after Ginny stuck her tongue out, dabbing it against the palm of her hand. “No. I’m not having sex. It’s quite pathetic, I know, but most of the guys I meet at my university program are quite boring.”

Aurora sat back against the arm of the couch again. It’s not that she didn’t want to put herself out there, because she did. Nothing felt right. There was one muggle boy, Anthony. He was a looker. Sweet, too. But there was no connection, no spark. After spending the night with one another, Aurora found herself wondering if it would ever feel better. Physically speaking… it was fine. It was over sooner than she thought it would be and the rest of the night she found herself wondering if he was a heavy sleeper so she could sneak into the bathroom and finish, for herself, what was never started.

They continued their conversation for another half hour it seemed before Ginny started rubbing at her eyes. “Ok, come on, let me show you to your room.” Aurora set their empty glasses in the sink before Ginny put the bottle of firewhiskey back in Ron’s hiding spot.

Aurora and Ginny walked side by side up the steps, hands clutching one another and swinging wildly before coming to a stop in front of the room that used to belong to Fred and George. Pushing open the door, Ginny walked in first and Aurora followed. Blue eyes traveled over everything in sight, a soft sigh escaping her lips. She never really talked much with either Fred or George. She was mostly seen as their little sisters annoying friend, or so she assumed anyway. Either way, she felt severely out of place and a bit uncomfortable. She would never tell Molly, or Ginny, this. She was grateful enough that she didn’t have to share a bed with her friend and fight her all night for blanket coverage.

One bed was completely bare. There were no sheets, no blankets, no pillows. Aurora silently concluded that the bed had belonged to Fred and she would definitely _not_ be sleeping in that one. Turning to the right-hand side of the room, her bag was already settled against the bed that was made. Ginny leaned against the dresser with a smile. “I should be getting to bed so there is a small chance of hope that I can wake up on my own in time before Mum decides to wake me up herself.” Ginny joked, wrapping her arms back around Aurora again.

“I know I’ve already told you, but I am so happy that you are here with me… with my family.” Ginny whispered, pressing a quick kiss to Aurora’s cheek. At this, Aurora smiled and hugged her friend back tightly. Her lips against Ginny's cheek in return, leaving a smudge of lipstick behind. Aurora smirked and rubbed at Ginny’s cheek with her thumb to remove the lipstick residue. “I’m happy I’m here, too, Gin. You are very lucky you have a way with words. You know I can never say no to you.”

Ginny walked back to the door and before closing it behind her, she turned and glanced over her shoulder. “Happy Christmas, Rory.”

“Happy Christmas Gin! See you in the morning.” Aurora watched as Ginny closed the door before turning back to the bed. She pulled open her bag and neatly took out her clothes before hanging them in the closet on the opposite side of the room. The foot of the bed was illuminated by the moonlight streaming into through the window. A soft smile found its home on Aurora’s lips as she sat on the edge of the bed and started unlacing her boots. Setting them off to the side, she then peeled off her thicker socks, folding them and stuffing them inside one of the boots before she wiggled her leggings beneath her hips and down her legs. She tossed those to the chair by the wall near the window before shimmying her way beneath the sheets.

Her hands smoothed over her stomach overtop of the blanket before both hands laid on the bed beside her. Staring up at the ceiling before letting sleep consumer her, Aurora’s eyes fluttered shut as a familiar sound, far off to the side of the Burrow, could be heard.

-

_*CRACK*_

George Weasley found himself standing outside of his childhood home. Hands tucked deep in the front pockets of his worn-out jeans, George let his eyes look up at the multiple story home. Brown eyes heavy and glazed over from the bottle of firewhiskey consumed earlier on in the night. Shaking his head, his hands found their way up and through his messy hair. Bloody hell, what was he doing there? Completely cockeyed.

Most of the lights that could usually be seen through the windows were out except the first floor. George found himself walking through the front door and gently closing it behind himself. He felt his blood run cold as he took a look around the empty living room. His eyes tried focusing on the couch because he was not sure if he would be able to make it up the steps without making a lot of noise. The last thing he wanted to do was cause a ruckus and wake up the family just to have his mum fuss over him in the middle of the night. She would smell the liquor on his breath and he did not have it in him, at this given moment, to remain calm and complacent with her worrying affections.

Before he knew it, George’s feet started moving. One foot, and then the next followed until he found himself standing outside of his childhood bedroom. Right hand on his jaw, left on the doorknob. _Deep breaths. I can do this. I’m a big boy._ Twisting the knob to the right, George gently nudge the door forward and again his feet moved for him before he shut the door.

The first place his eyes focused on was the empty mattress void of any bedding. _Fred…_

A puff of air escaped between his lips before George slipped his feet from his shoes and found himself turning and sitting on the edge of his old bed. Something didn’t feel right. He felt something behind him as he leaned back and it felt like… a foot? 

Before he could even turn around, a loud gasp escaped from the behind him and the foot that was hidden beneath the sheet was out and shoving against his hip before he found himself knocked back and on the floor, completely dazed.

“What the bloody hell…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super excited to bring this to life. A little something I've been thinking about for a while because I haven't been able to find too many Post-War George fics and well, I sort of love sad, angsty George and want to expand more on what his journey after Fred's death was like (in my head, lol).


	4. Bottom Of A Bottle

Aurora instantly was up from the bed, standing in front of the man sitting on the floor. “Who the fuck are you?“ Aurora exclaimed, trying her best to remain calm and keep her voice low but seeing as how she was just sleeping and was woken up by the dip in the mattress by her feet quite suddenly, she was anything but. Her fingers clenched into her palm, creating a tight fist at her side.

A shiver ran down her spine as the brown eyes belonging to the man traveled up her bare legs before landing on her face. Why the bloody hell was he staring at her like she was the one who intruded on him? It had taken another moment or two for her eyes to remove the sleep and focus on his face. “George?” She let out, bending forward to get a better look as his face became illuminated by the moonlight.

George tilted his head to the side, reaching over and grabbing onto the bedpost to hoist himself up so that he was standing – towering over the girl standing before him. She looked familiar but, in his state, he was pretty sure he could not even tell the difference between his left foot and his right.

Aurora’s hands found their way to her hips as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “You don’t remember me, do you?” She laughed softly, chewing on her lower lip. Her eyes searched his as she watched him turn around and proceed to lay down on the bed. “Are you…wait, are you seriously going to bed right now?” Her eyes were wide as George rolled over onto his stomach, arms winding beneath the pillow under his head. “What the bloody hell is going on?” She asked, more to herself than anything.

Gentle snores were already escaping his lips by the time she was able to lean over and look at his face. A few strands of his unruly hair were slick against his forehead while the others stood up every which way on top of his head. Aurora was too busy studying the pained expression on his face to hear the bedroom door open.

“Aurora? What’s going on, I heard you scream and-“Ginny stopped right behind Aurora beside the bed. A small laugh escaped her lips before she covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh Godric, George…” The red headed woman shook her head before putting her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, did he scare you? I had no idea he would be coming home tonight or else I would have had you stay in my room with me.”

Aurora turned around to look at her friend, her slender arms crossing over her chest. She couldn’t shake the feeling that his gaze on her bare legs gave her. Shaking her head before opening her mouth to speak, “It’s fine. Gave me quite a fright… I may have kicked him pretty hard so I hope he doesn’t remember any of this. It’s far too embarrassing, Gin.” A small laugh escaped as she turned to look back down at George. “He’s not doing well, is he?”

With that question, Ginny brought her bottom lip in between her teeth before releasing and answering her friend, “No. But come on, let’s get you to bed. We can talk more tomorrow perhaps.”

Aurora gently gathered her things without making too much noise, but come to think of it, she could have turned on her radio at the highest volume setting right beside his good ear and he most likely would not wake up. Following Ginny out of the room and closing the door behind her, Aurora nibbled on her lower lip as she settled in beside her friend. “Have you gotten any better at sharing the blankets, Gin?”

“Nope!”

____________________________________________________________________________

When Aurora’s eyes opened, she found herself alone in Ginny’s bed. Rubbing at the sleep in both of her eyes, she rolled over onto her side and stretched her legs out. After sleeping in a small twin sized bed with Ginny “Blanket Hog” Weasley, her legs felt a bit cramped.

“Happy Christmas Aurora!” Ginny beamed, walking back into her bedroom, her body wrapped tightly in a fluffy yellow bath towel. “I cannot believe you slept longer than I did. And don’t even bother saying it…” Ginny made sure her bedroom door was closed before dropping the towel and changing into fresh, clean clothes for the day. “I did not steal the blankets!”

Aurora giggled, pushing herself up into a sitting position with her back against the headboard. “Happy Christmas, Gin! And yes you most certainly did. That bed is not big enough for two grown women to share.” Her arms stretched out and up above her head. “But that’s ok. I mean, it’s not like George would have shared his bed with me. He smelled like a distillery anyway.” Aurora joked, choosing to ignore the smirk on Ginny’s lips as she looked at her friend through the mirror at her vanity.

“Is the bathroom free? Do I have time before breakfast to wash up?” Aurora leaned over her open bag to pull out her toiletry bag.

“Yes, mostly everyone is already downstairs. Just head down whenever you’re ready.”

With that, Aurora turned on her heel and ventured out into the hallway with her towel tucked beneath her arm and the bag of toiletries in her hand. Not paying attention to where she was walking, in typical Aurora fashion, her body smacked directly into the hard back of George Weasley.

“Oi, watch where you’re going.”

George’s voice was tense. He turned around quickly and glared down at Aurora, who was now kneeling before him picking up her towel and bag. “I’m s-sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.” She spoke softly, almost in a timid fashion, her eyes slowly making their way up to his face before she stood up and directed her eyes back down to the floor again.

“It’s you…from last night.” George raised an eyebrow before looking past Aurora, his eyes now focusing on his little sister who shut her bedroom door with a loud click. “Good Morning Georgie!” She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her brother and giving his cheek a quick peck. “Happy Christmas. Are you going to shave?” A small smirk growing on her lips as she stepped back and glanced over at Aurora.

“Oh! Where are my manners?” Ginny gently pat Aurora’s back with a laugh. “Georgie, this is Aurora Sinclair. She was my best friend from Hogwarts, you’re telling me you don’t remember her?”

“Aurora Sinclair….” George repeated with furrowed brows. “Oh,” He let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, sorry, I remember you now. It’s been a while.”

Aurora stayed silent. A small smile appeared on her lips just as fast as it disappeared. “Yes, it has been a while.” Honestly… Aurora has not looked upon the face of George Weasley since the funeral for his twin brother. Even with the facial hair, she felt like she was staring into the eyes of a dead man.

“Aurora here is actually living the simple life in muggle London. Going to university and working at a bakery,” Ginny began with a smile. “No magic, either. Merlin, I don’t know how you do it, Rory.”

Aurora cleared her throat, her grip on the bath towel tightening just a bit at the mention of not using magic. “It’s quite simple really. It didn’t take me lo-“

She was cut off but a scoff escaping George’s lips. “No bloody magic? That’s stupid.” His arms crossed over his chest, his biceps flexing and tightening as he did so.

“George…”

Aurora raised a hand to her friend with a smile, “No worries, Gin. I have to agree with George, it is quite stupid. But we all grieve in different ways, do we not?” Her eyes narrowed up at George. She was almost begging for a confrontation at this point. The sneer on George’s face made the wall she built up crumble just a little. The judgement. The jokes. The _mean_ jokes. Aurora was always a sensitive girl. She did not appreciate the wizarding world looking down their noses at her solely for the face that she decided to no longer use magic.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” George bit back, his eyes narrowing right back at Aurora. Meanwhile, Ginny stood between the two, her eyes darting back and forth from her brother to her best friend.

“Well, not all of us are willing to grieve down to the bottom of a bottle.” Aurora said was soft now, the need for confrontation was slowly dissipating and now she just wanted to go back home. No more questions as to why she locked away her wand and refused to use magic. “But I wouldn’t judge you for that.” She added quickly, her cheeks tinted with just a little hint of red. She wasn’t sure why she decided to go with that declaration. It was making her into a hypocrite, but he didn’t need to know that. At least not yet, anyway. In all honesty, she found herself at the bottom of a bottle quite often. She cleared her throat and looked to Ginny, “I’ll be down shortly, Gin.” before nudging George to the side with her shoulder and entering the bathroom.

“Good job, George. Try to be nice, will you? Rory is staying with us for a few days. Ever since the war, her parents have been off, traveling cross county and the like.” Ginny whispered to her brother, her small hand clutching tightly onto his forearm. “And she’s right, you know. We all grieve different. We’re not the only family who lost someone that day.”

With that, Ginny stepped around her brother and headed down the steps to start helping her Mum in the kitchen.

George stayed quiet. Arms that were once tightly wrapped around his chest were now hanging at his sides. He glanced over at the bathroom door, the sound of the water spurting from the showerhead could be faintly heard over the hustle and bustle of Christmas morning. Did he feel bad? Was he going to put on a fake smile and be cheerful just because it was Christmas?

No. Probably not. 


	5. A Weasley Christmas Morning

After scrubbing herself, almost raw, in the shower, Aurora pulled herself together enough to sit at Ginny’s vanity and try to cover up the redness underneath her eyes with some makeup. She dressed herself slowly, almost dreading joining the rest of the Weasley clan downstairs because of her run-ins with George.

Sitting down on the edge of Ginny’s bed, Aurora pulled her thick black stockings up her legs before standing to pull the waistband up over her hips. She then pulled on the slightly form fitting red dress while simultaneously slipping her feet into some black ballet flats.

Once her feet landed on the last step, Molly rushed over to wrap her arms around Aurora in a gentle hug. “Oh, you look beautiful Aurora. Happy Christmas darling!”

Aurora smiled softly, hugging Molly back before turning to look up at Mr. Weasley. “Happy Christmas, Mr. Weasley! Is that a new jumper? It looks so vibrant!” She giggled, hugging Arthur tightly before looking at Molly who spoke up, “Oh, sweetheart, I’ve got my tips and tricks, I do!” Molly’s hand gently pat at her husband’s chest before leaving a kiss upon his cheek.

“Yes, Aurora, you know my wife.” Arthur joked with a laugh, turning to head back into the kitchen. “Come, sit down, let’s all eat as a family!” He exclaimed, his eyes wide as they took in his son, George, sitting in the middle of the table. Ron was perched to his right, and Percy on his left.

“Happy Christmas, Aurora!” Ron and Percy spoke at the same time. Percy lifted his hand and waved as Ron nodded his head in Aurora’s direction. “Hermione will be here for dinner. She’s spending some time with her parents now that their memories are back in full.” Ron smiled, piling his plate sky high with pancakes, bacon and some scrambled eggs.

Aurora grinned back at Ron and Percy, choosing to look down between the two and not make eye contact with George. “Happy Christmas you two!” Ginny softly pat the seat beside her. “Is this all of us?” She asked her friend, her mouth almost watering at all of the food laid out in front of them.

“Charlie can’t make it home this year. Bill and Fleur will be stopping by shortly. They never make breakfast. I think they enjoy their bedroom adventures in the morning, if you catch my meaning…” Ginny giggled devilishly, though her cheeks turned red as Molly let out a loud gasp, “Ginevra Weasley! We do not speak of such things. Honestly, who raised you girl?”

“You did.”

Aurora quickly turned her head to search for the source of the comment. It was George. And if she wasn’t mistaken, a small smirk could be found on his lips. That is, until he saw Aurora staring at him inquisitively. His lips fell into a straight line with her glance. “What? She did.” He grunted with a roll of his eyes, stuffing his mouth with a forkful of pancake and a tiny piece of sausage.

Ginny giggled. Molly _almost_ started screaming. But her eyes wandered over the face of her son. The son she had not seen for six months. That little bit sounded like her son. The real George. Not the empty shell of a man they have seen for the past three years. Her round eyes were starting to get wet but before any tears could escape, she dabbed at the corners of her eyes and scooted her chair in a bit closer to the table. “Yes, well, dig in everyone! Happy Christmas!”

Arthur smiled to himself as he turned to Aurora. Their entire conversation throughout breakfast was about the newest televisions and how expensive they were. Aurora swore she could feel the heat of someone’s stare against the side of her face but every time she looked away from Arthur, nobody was looking at her.

After breakfast, presents were exchanged. She didn’t have anything for a majority of the Weasley family other than Ginny and her parents. For Ginny, Aurora had found a stunning pair of winter gloves. Red leather. “I know it’s not much, but they made me think of you. I-uh, I know they might not be regulation, but they certainly help keep the cold out and could help while you’re playing.” She spoke softly, her fingers twisting the edge of her dress a bit before letting go and smoothing it down against her thighs.

“Aurora! Bloody hell! Screw regulation, these are absolutely beautiful.” Ginny slowly pulled the gloves on and shook her hands dramatically. “Even if I weren’t to wear them during quidditch, I could certainly wear them when I force Harry to take me out to a nice dinner.” She giggled, wiggling her eyebrows up and down over at her friend before taking off the gloves and placing them back into the box.

Aurora tugged out the handmade, with love, sweater from Molly. “My very own Weasley sweater! How did I get so lucky?” Aurora smiled, kissing Molly’s cheek as thanks.

“You’re family, m’dear.” Arthur explained, clapping his hands together before looking over at Ron and Percy who were tugging on their coats. “Where are you off to?” He questioned, glancing to George who sat in the armchair, a glass full to the top of amber liquid in his hands.

“We’re going to bust out the brooms and get a game going. Harry will be getting here soon, Bill and Fleur, too. I mean, she won’t fly but I’m sure Bill will be interested in joining. George? What about you?” Ron looked at his brother, his glance full of hope.

“Maye next time.” George offered a shake of his head, the glass coming up to his lips as he took a large gulp of the liquor. The burn felt nice going down. It helped take his mind off things. For starters, without Fred… they didn’t have enough people to play quidditch.

“Aurora? I know you didn’t play in school but we’ll need another person.”

Freezing in her place, Aurora’s eyes widened up at Ron. “Oh, Ron, no. I’m sorry. I’m not comfortable…flying.” She cleared her throat, eyes darting around the room, not daring to land on any of their faces. She didn’t want to see the look of pity on them. She found herself quickly skimming George’s face, his body turned slightly in the armchair and his eyes falling on her.

“Yeah, Ron, didn’t you hear? Miss. Sinclair has given up magic!” George barked with laughter. _Humorless laughter…again. Godric, he could really be a prick,_ Aurora thought to herself as her eyes narrowed and her hands clenched tightly into fists.

Ron blanched as soon as George spoke up. “Oh Godric, I’m sorry Aurora.” Totally ignoring the attitude of his older brother, he gently let his hand pat Aurora’s knee before he sat down on the arm of the couch beside her. “Don’t be sorry, you didn’t know.” She offered with a small smile, crossing her legs at the ankles as she turned to face him. “Hermione never liked flying either, right? Maybe I can keep her company!” She offered with a laugh, “I’m sure we have much to catch up on. I haven’t seen her in years.”

Ron smiled and nodded his head towards Aurora. “Yeah, no matter what I do or say, she just won’t trust me enough. Today might be the day, though. But don’t worry, Fleur can’t play. She’s expecting. Did Gin tell you that? I can’t believe I’m going to be an Uncle. Gross…” Ron groaned, running his hands down his face before running his fingers through his hair.

Aurora grinned and nodded eagerly. “Yes, Gin caught me up on what everyone was up to the other day. It’s amazing, not gross! You’ll be a fantastic Uncle, I’m sure.” She nudged Ron before glancing over as the front door opened. Hermione, followed by Harry, walked in.

“Happy Christmas everyone!”

“Happy Christmas Hermione, Harry!” Aurora lifted her hand and gave a gentle wave. “Great to see you both.”

Ginny and Ron both shot up as quick as a seeker chasing the golden snitch. Tight hugs between the Golden Trio and Ginny. Aurora glanced over almost with a look of longing on her face. What she would give to have relationships like they did with one another. Ginny was her best friend, yes, but she was always envious of the closeness between Hermione, Ron and Harry. Would any of her friends risk their lives for her? Ginny most likely would. But that was to the extent of it.

Quickly stealing a glance over at George, Aurora noticed that his glass was now empty and with a flick of his wand, was soon refilled to the brim. She didn’t pity him. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She lost a brother, too. She knew the pain he was going through. Three years sounds like a long time. To Aurora, it felt as if the battle only occurred just last week.

George looked up and made eye contact with Aurora. Besides the fact that he was quite rude earlier, he was curious about the whole throwing away magic thing. How did she do anything or go anywhere? Why did she want to live life like a muggle? And what the bloody hell was so interesting about televisions? Why wasn’t she looking away? Wait…why wasn’t he looking away?

Aurora continued to watch George, who in turn continued to watch her right back. She was starting to squirm a bit in her seat before she was pulled from the staring contest by Ginny plopping down beside her on the couch. “Ror, come watch us play?” She pleaded, puckering out her lower lip as her hands clasped together against her chest.

“Has anyone ever told you that begging is not very becoming, Gin?” Aurora giggled, rolling her eyes before quickly glancing back to George who was now speaking, begrudgingly, with Hermione and Harry. “But yes. Sure. I’ll come watch.” The brunette agreed, lifting herself up off the couch and following the boisterous red head to the back door after grabbing her coat and a thick blanket to sit on.

Before long, Bill and Fleur arrived and most of the Weasley clan, along with Aurora, Harry and Hermione were outside. George stood by the kitchen window, absentmindedly combing his fingers through the bottom of his beard before letting it run over the space where his ear used to be. He found himself glancing over his shoulder to check if his Mum was nearby before looking back out the window. Aurora was sitting on the blanket besides Fleur, both looked to be in quite a heated conversation. His siblings, Harry and even Hermione were flying overhead, playing a sloppy game of quidditch.

Without thinking, George tugged on his coat and picked up the bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses. He then found himself outside and standing beside the girls. Without saying anything, he poured one glass half-full and cleared his throat, handing it down towards Aurora.

Fleur smiled widely at this gesture. Her eyes falling onto Aurora before peering up at George. Aurora was almost as shocked as Fleur. Was this some type of peace offering? Well, either way… she never turned down a drink.

Blue eyes met brown and before another painfully long minute passed by, Aurora let her fingers wrap around the glass, gently brushing against George’s as she did so. “Thank you.” She whispered with a small smile and a nod.

George nodded back before looking down at Fleur. “Sorry Fleur,” He began with a smirk. “None for you, it seems.”

Fleur rolled her eyes, her small hand gently running over the barely-there bump that was beginning to form. “Very funny, George. I’m perfectly happy with the reason I cannot drink that foul drink you call alcohol.” She scoffed, turning up her nose at the thought of enjoying a glass of firewhiskey. With that comment, Fleur pushed herself up off the blanket, dusting herself off. “And I’m sorry to say, dear Aurora, that I am going to have to leave you here with this barbarian. It is too chilly for me. I’m going to help Molly prepare dinner.” With that, she took her leave, almost prancing back to the back door.

Aurora smiled and let out a laugh. “It was nice speaking with you, Fleur. Hopefully you can tell me more about Shell Cottage and the beach after dinner.” Aurora called, turning to watch her leave before her eyes landed back on George, who stood beside the blanket and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“For fucks sake, just sit down already.” She groaned, leaning over a bit to pat the warm spot on the blanket that Fleur had just abandoned.

George grunted back. What was it with him, and Aurora, communicating like a bunch of animals? He wasn’t sure…but he kept it up anyway. Slowly moving to the side, George set the bottle of firewhiskey down between them before following suit.

Once he was seated, Aurora let her eyes linger on his face before turning back to watch the game above them. With one large gulp, Aurora downed the amber liquid and held her glass out with a smirk.

“Thanks for the drink. Pour me a little bit more this time, will ya?”


	6. Tension

“I thought you said I shouldn’t grieve down to the bottom of a bottle?” George bit back with one eyebrow raised high, though his hands betrayed him as he picked up the bottle of liquor and leaned over to pour more into her glass. Her hand was shaking, though, and George roughly gripped her wrist to stop the movement. Half of his long fingers wrapped around her wrist while the rest splayed out against the back of her hand. He said nothing else, not wanting to comment on the stability of her hands.

“Clever,” Aurora laughed softly, her eyes falling onto his hand as it wrapped around her wrist, holding her hand steady. She was nervous. Why was she nervous? She had known George growing up, it wasn’t like sitting beside him and sharing a drink was putting her in any type of danger. “Thank you.” She told him, almost letting out a sigh as his fingers gently slipped against her skin, removing themselves from her hand now that her glass was full.

A few minutes had passed by. George had poured himself another glass as well, the bottle between them half empty by now. Aurora’s eyes trained on the brooms above them, her lower lip being pulled into her mouth as she felt her heartbeat pounding rapidly against her ribcage. “I’m sorry for making that comment, you know.” She started, turning to look over at George with a half-hearted smile. “I was mad at your comment about my magic…or lack thereof, I guess.” She admitted to him as she lifted the glass to her lips and took a smaller sip. “I’m certainly not judging you for using alcohol as a coping mechanism.”

George didn’t respond. His eyes quickly turned to look at her before he looked back to the ground. He didn’t care what she thought of him. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him, really.

“I guess I like the burn a bit too much, too…” She whispered with a small laugh, shaking her head at herself before downing the rest of the glass. In all the excitement of spending the holidays with a real family, Aurora almost forgot what today was for her family. “My brother, Michael,” She set the glass down, moving both hands beneath her thighs to keep them from shaking any more than they already were. “Today is-“She cleared her throat, “I’m sorry, today _was_ his birthday. He would have been twenty-four.” She kept her eyes up to the sky, focusing on the clouds instead of the brooms. Her stomach was in knots watching the game. “He died during the Battle of Hogwarts.”

Her eyes closed for a moment, her head tilting back a bit and letting the dark tresses of her wavy hair fall behind her shoulder, almost hitting the ground beneath them. Ginny and the rest of the group must have been flying further out, away from the house, because all she could hear was silence. That and the small sounds of George breathing beside her.

George watched her eyes fall shut, taking this as an opportunity to turn a bit and study her face. _Her body_. He quickly finished his drink and set the glass down next to where she had just placed hers. As much as he would like, he couldn’t be wasted for Christmas dinner. His Mum would never forgive him.

“I remember him.” George told her, slowly moving his hands behind him as he leaned his head back, mimicking the way she had her body positioned. “He was the year above me and a bloody nasty chaser, if I’m not mistaken.”

Aurora smiled softly at this. “Yes, he was on the quidditch team. Flying on that bloody broom was like a second nature to him. I could barely keep myself steady, even when I was on the ground, no matter how many lessons he gave me in secret.” She giggled; her lower lip being pulled back into her mouth by her top teeth. “I don’t like talking about him, though. I know you…I know you understand.” Her eyes opened slowly, her head dropping to the right so she could look at him. To her surprise, he was already watching her. His eyes soft.

“Yeah, I do.” He replied with a curt nod. Sitting up straight now, George crossed his legs and leaned his elbows on his thighs. “Fred- He, uh,”

“Don’t.” Aurora sat up herself, leaning over a bit and placing her hand on the back of George’s bicep. “It’s ok. You’re not ready. And I think we’ve both had a bit too much firewhiskey.” A soft laugh escaped her lips as she quickly covered her mouth afterwards. She got much more self-conscious when she had alcohol in her system. She felt like her laugh was embarrassing. George seemed to be trying to be friendly, but she knew that she couldn’t push him too much. Aurora could see a tear quickly make it’s escape from his eye, trickling down his cheek before becoming hidden in the forest of a beard on his face.

Without another word, Aurora reached up and gently swiped her thumb against his cheek. “Your Mum will have my head if she finds out I’ve gone and made her son cry.” She joked, a small smile on her lips as she looked over her shoulder to see everyone start to land, putting the brooms back into the shed. “Thanks for the drink, George. I’ll see you at dinner.” And with that, she was pushing herself up and walking over to Ginny and Hermione.

“You alright there, brother?” Bill had his hands tucked into the back pockets of his jeans as he looked down at George. With the sun shining brightly down upon them, the large scars across the one side of Bill’s face almost looked like they were glistening in the sunlight. They had faded tremendously since the attack, and George knew his brother almost forgot that they were even there now.

“Yes, Bill, I’m alright.” George moved to push himself up and collect the glasses and bottle before nodding a thanks to Bill for picking up the blanket, shaking it out and then folding it up neatly.

“You know I’m beginning to think I’m not the only one who is happy that you came for Christmas.” A wide smirk found its home on Bill’s face as his elbow gently nudged his brother. His head shook a bit as he focused in on their sister and her best friend.

George rolled his eyes, a small grunt escaping from his lip as he walked into the house. He refused to follow Bill’s line of sight and look at Aurora. He was not going to entertain the idea of any kind of _feelings_ between himself and his sister’s friend. Sexual tension…maybe. That’s all that it would be. All that it could be.


	7. Happy Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** TW - mentions of alcohol/drug use, disordered eating and promiscuous sex **

Christmas dinner at the Burrow was delicious. Molly Weasley always went above and beyond for her family, and a special holiday like Christmas was no different. Aurora found herself eating more than she has, in one single meal, in a very long time. Dinner was over quickly, and before long, music was gently escaping the horn of the outdated gramophone settled in the corner of the living room. Aurora was perched on the arm of the couch, Ginny on the couch below her.

“I honestly don’t think I can move after all of that food I’ve eaten…” Ginny pat her stomach, leaning her head over on Aurora’s hip as a groan escaped through her lips.

“You mean you don’t want to dance with me?” Harry joked, a small grin appearing on his lips as he stood up from his spot on the couch besides Ginny, his hand extended down to her.

“Well, I can never say no to you.” Ginny beamed, patting Aurora’s thigh as she let Harry take her other hand and pull her up, heading over to the open floor before the ornately decorated Christmas tree.

Watching her best friend and her boyfriend dance, laughing loudly as they whipped one another around in circles, Aurora smiled to herself and moved to the kitchen to get herself another drink. As she was walking back out into the living room, her hand was quickly snatched up by Mr. Weasley. “This is a lovely song, won’t you do this old man the honor of gracing him with a dance?” He bowed to Aurora as a loud laugh escaped her lips.

“Mr. Weasley, you are too much. I would be honored!” Without taking a sip of her newly poured drink, Aurora set the glass down on the end table before joining Arthur for a dance.

Seated in the armchair, George tried his very best to remain stoic as his eyes traveled over Aurora dancing happily with his father. It was certainly a sight to behold. Lifting the glass up to his lips, he finished off the firewhiskey before leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest.

With one hand clasped loosely in Arthur’s and the other gently resting on his shoulder, Aurora giggled as they spun around to the song that was soon ending. This was always what she pictured Christmas with the Weasley’s to be like. Arthur was such an amazing man, an amazing father. Aurora was extremely grateful that they had been so welcoming to her.

As Arthur let go of her back, he spun her out and away from his body. In the exact moment that she stopped spinning, her chest heaving a bit from the movement and her laughter, Aurora found her eyes locked with George from across the room. _Why was he always bloody staring?_ She thought to herself, soon twirling back into Arthur’s chest as the song ended. “Thank you for humoring an old man, Miss Sinclair.” Arthur gave her a quick peck on her forehead. “Happy Christmas.” He told her, soon moving on to dance with his wife, who had been patiently waiting for a turn to dance with her husband.

“Happy Christmas, Mr. Weasley.” Her voice was soft, a smile growing on her lips as she turned back around to pick up her glass of firewhiskey.

Soon the music dwindled down to a complete stop. Molly and Arthur bid goodnight to their children, Harry, Hermione and Aurora before finding their way up the stairs. Bill and Fleur decided to stick around for a little bit longer, sitting on the couch and speaking with Aurora about her life as a muggle. Fleur wanted to have the same reaction as George, but she also had much more self control than the red head. “I don’t know if I would be able to do what you do, Aurora.” The delicate roll of the R’s in Aurora’s name slipped off of Fleur’s tongue as her thick accent came out to play. Bill silently agreed with his wife with a small nod, one hand resting on her bump while the other was holding his head up against the arm of the couch.

Aurora smiled softly, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. “In all honesty, it did take me a while to get used to not having magic… well not using it, actually.” Aurora had really struggled in the beginning. Her emotions had been at an all time high and extremely erratic. She was drinking heavily and had resorted to using drugs that she was introduced to by her roommate. Since then she had stopped using drugs, but was still drinking more than she probably should.

As she opened her mouth to continue, she could feel the heat of the intense stare coming from the armchair by the fire. George was watching her talk, listening intently to her explain what she went through right after the war. “I’m certainly not proud of my actions but it was the only way that I thought I could grieve.”

Aurora continued to tell them about the alcohol, the drugs, the evident hunger that she always chose to ignore, and let’s not forget the meaningless sex with strange men. With the last revelation, Fleur let out a loud gasp, her hand pressed to her chest. “Aurora!” She exclaimed, shaking her head.

Before she could even continue, Aurora held a hand up with a small laugh. “I was safe. Don’t worry.” She explained, chewing on her lower lip as her eyes traveled over everyone left in the room. Percy had left to spend the night with Penelope, and she was grateful for that because that meant one less judgmental Weasley stare. When her eyes got to George, he cleared his throat and looked away quickly, pushing himself up to refill his glass.

Bill gently nudged his wife, whispering that they should probably head home since they both had to work in the morning. Aurora was relieved that the attention was taken off her as they said their goodbyes. She could hear Harry and Ginny whisper about heading back to his flat so that they could spend the night. Aurora knew they were in no shape to apparate, “You two don’t have to worry. I can take the couch. Spend the night together, lovebirds.” Aurora made a face jokingly at the thought of Harry and Ginny together. “Are you sure?” Ginny whispered, a small look of excitement crossing her features. Aurora assumed it had been a while since they were able to spend alone time together.

“Yes.”

Another twenty minutes had passed, and Aurora found herself left alone in the living room. George had not come back in after he left the last time. She found herself curious about where he got off too but quickly shook her head and moved to slip her feet from her flats before neatly placing them side by side at the foot of the couch. She mentally hit herself for not grabbing comfortable clothes from Ginny’s room before her and Harry ran off to do Godric knows what… well she knew what but found herself not wanting to think about it.

“Awful nice of you to let my baby sister’s boyfriend spend the night in her bed, Sinclair.”

Jumping slightly at the intrusion, Aurora turned around, her hands pressing against her chest now from the scare. “Blimey, George, you scared me. Don’t you know not to do that to a poor girl like me?” She smiled a bit, smoothing down the front of her dress as she looked at the two glasses in his hands. She reached over and plucked one from his grasp.

“How did you know that was for you? I could be expecting company, you know.” George raised an eyebrow, watching her take a slow slip. It was almost tantalizing – the way her lips parted to wrap around the rim of the glass and welcome the rush of warmth from the amber liquor down her throat.

“You would invite a lady friend to your parents’ home on Christmas night?” She teased, obviously not believing him as she found herself sitting on the floor by the fire. It was slowly dying down, and they wouldn’t stoke it any further so they could sleep without having to worry about a fire spreading.

“Nah, I just wanted to see your reaction.” George decided against sitting on the floor beside Aurora, finding himself perched back in the armchair off to the side. He took a sip from his drink and set the glass on the end table before turning his attention back to Aurora. In the time it took him to sit down and take a drink, Aurora had been able to shimmy the thick stockings down from over her hips and off of her legs. He eyed her as she folded the stockings neatly, placing them over top of her flats by the couch.

Her bare legs, smooth from what he could tell, tucked underneath of her as she leaned on one hand, the glass of firewhiskey in the other. The silence to some may have seemed awkward. George and Aurora shared a quick glance before looking away. The silence was welcoming, at least to Aurora.

It felt like hours had passed them by before one of them spoke up. To Aurora’s surprise, it was George. “I’m going to head home… Got to open up the shop tomorrow morning and all…” He cleared his throat before continuing, “You don’t have to sleep on the couch, I mean. You can have my bed.” He quickly finished up his glass before heading back out to the kitchen to set it down in the sink.

Aurora found herself finishing the glass quickly, pushing herself up and in her bare feet, shuffled after George into the kitchen.

“You can’t apparate home. You’re drunk. What if you get splinched?” She whispered, reaching out to place a hand on his forearm. His eyes were glassy, and she could tell that his vision was most likely blurred. “George, listen. I’ll be fine on the couch. I’ve, uh,” She cleared her throat, reaching around him to place her glass in the sink quietly. “I’ve slept in worse conditions before. A couch is nothing.” She laughed softly, looking up at him.

His face was emotionless. To Aurora, it seemed like he was not going to listen to her and try to leave anyway. Before she could blink, he shook her hand off of his arm and pulled his wand from his back pocket.

Aurora froze for a moment, eyeing the magnificent piece of wood grasped tightly in his large hand. Biting on her bottom lip before she was gently pushed aside as George stalked to the front door. Before she knew what was happening, she ran after him. The cold night wind chilling her straight to the core as she wrapped her arms around her chest. “George!” She shouted as loud as she could without risking waking up the sleeping members of the Burrow.

George, miraculously, stopped walking off as he turned to look at her with a harsh stare. “What the bloody hell are you doing? You’ve got nothing on your legs or feet!” He groaned, rolling his eyes as he looked down at her once she finally caught up with him, standing in front of him with her hands perched on her hips. The dark night sky had a grey tint to it, and George knew what that meant.

_Snow._

He turned his attention up at noticing some of the white flurries falling down around them. “Merlin’s bloody balls, get back inside the house Aurora.” He said, his eyes falling onto her now once he stopped taking in the atmosphere around them.

Aurora rolled her eyes, ignoring the shivers running through her body. _Bloody hell, it’s snowing now._ “Not unless you come with me.” She responded, her eyes meeting his – refusing to look away. Before she could even think about what she was doing, her hand shot out and grabbed his wand from him. George almost looked just as shocked as she did. “What-“ He began, reaching back out to try and get his wand back.

“You can head home early in the morning once your buzz wears off. Only then will it be safe for you to apparate.” Aurora said, her fingers wrapped around his wand tightly. She could almost feel the magic buzzing from its core, her fingers feeling a bit numb. Was it the magic or the cold? She couldn’t tell at this point. With that, she turned around on her heel and ran back into the house. She was bloody _freezing._

George stood there dumbfounded. What the fuck had just happened? Why did she care so much if he apparated home drunk? She took his wand. What type of witch would ever think it was ok to steal a wizards wand from his grasp? The snow fall started to pick up and George found himself walking back into the Burrow.

As he closed the front door behind himself, Aurora was standing by the foot of the staircase. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.” She said, nodding her head in the direction of the second floor before she climbed the steps with George behind her.

_Wait… why am I following her?_ George thought to himself, his eyebrows furrowed down before he found himself sitting on the edge of his bed. George felt himself falling into a daze as Aurora untied his trainers and slid his feet from within them before tossing them to the side with her nose scrunched up.

“Those stink, you need to wash them or… or buy new ones.” She said with a cough, pushing herself up from kneeling before George. She nudged him back a bit, trying to pull the blankets up and over his legs.

George ignored the comment about his trainers and the smell they emitted. He couldn’t remember the last time e had bought himself something as simple as a new pair of trainers. He looked up at her, noticing the way the moonlight coming through his bedroom window lit up the side of her face. Her skin was clear, smooth…and quite perfect. His eyes then traveled down to her lips. They weren’t too plump, or too thin. They were in the middle and were proportionate with the rest of her facial features.

Without thinking, George reached up and grabbed onto the sides of Aurora’s face. His thumbs against her cheeks as his fingers reached out into her hair, scraping against her scalp. “George-“ She tried to object but was not quick enough as his lips pressed roughly against hers. Throwing caution to the wind, George moved to push her lips open with the tip of his tongue. He was only able to get a small taste of her before he felt her hands roughly shoving against his shoulders.

The connection was broken and he stared up at her with confusion. “You don’t want this?” He asked, his voice rough and scratchy.

“No.” Aurora growled, anger apparent on her face as she stared down at him. “I’m not here to make you feel better, George. You’re drunk. Go to bed.” She quickly stepped back, walking backwards towards the bedroom door. She didn’t trust him to turn her back on him. Not now. She turned at the last second and pulled open the door and rushed out into the hallway, closing the door with a gentle click.

“ _Fuck_ …”


	8. Old Friends

Aurora could barely sleep after George had kissed her. He was drunk. She was buzzed, but not too far gone that she wouldn’t remember anything that she did that night. Her eyes kept shut for maybe a grand total of four hours before she was awake again. She had quickly slipped into Ginny’s bedroom, ensuring that her and Harry were ether clothed, or covered up, before grabbing her things and walking back out. She had showered and dressed in another pair of black leggings, the vibrant red and yellow “A” jumper from Molly she had received the day before, and a thick pair of white fuzzy socks.

Aurora made sure she didn’t make too much noise as she found her way back down to the living room. She started a small fire in the fireplace and found herself tidying up because she knew Molly had done so much the day prior that she should not worry about having to lift a finger.

Before long, the grandfather clock perched by the front door started to chime and she heard movement from the stairs. “Morning Aurora.” It was Harry. He was pulling on his coat before running his fingers through his hair to fix the messy strands. “I hope the couch wasn’t too terrible, I feel awful that I kicked you out.”

Aurora laughed softly, moving to pick up her freshly brewed cup of tea. “Good Morning Harry. No need to apologize! I know you and Ginny haven’t had too much time with one another. Consider it my Christmas gift.” She joked with a smirk, moving to pull out a chair and sit down. “Heading to work?”

Harry nodded, buttoning up his coat as he glanced back at the staircase – Ginny slowly making her way down, yawning quite loudly. “Speaking of work – I’ve got to get going. I’ll need to stop home first.” Harry mused more so to himself than to Aurora and Ginny. “I love you,” Ginny whispered, her hands winding behind his neck, playing with the hair at the base of his head. “Have a good day at work.” She smiled as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

“Oi! Save that for the bloody bedroom.” George now stomped his way down the steps, passing Harry and Ginny in their lip lock with a look of disgust. He moved towards the front door to gather his coat without even a quick glance in Aurora’s direction. _Maybe he doesn’t remember…_ She hoped, chewing on her bottom lip before she waved to Harry and watched him apparate – clutching his wand by his side tightly.

“Shut up George.” Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes as she moved to the chair beside Aurora, pouring herself a cup of tea. “Do you think the shop will be busy today?” She took a sip of tea and looked up at her brother before stirring in a small spoonful of honey. “Since Aurora is spending another day with me,” Ginny smiled widely at her friend, “I was thinking we could go shopping. Maybe stop by the shop so I could show her around?”

Aurora cleared her throat, aimlessly stirring her spoon around her cup before she looked up – finally making eye contact with George as she did so.

“That’s probably not a good idea, Gin.” George began, his coat hanging open as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Patting around a bit, he started glancing around at every table. “Have you seen my wand?” He asked with a groan, “I must have left it down here last night, but I didn’t think I was _that_ drunk…” He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing the strands back and off his forehead before he moved into the living room and saw his wand sitting on the end table. _Weird._

Ginny raised an eyebrow as she watched her brother search for his wand. She glanced quickly at Aurora, finding it a bit suspicious that his wand was left next to where she slept the night before. She would have to remind herself to ask Aurora once they were alone. “Well, why don’t you think that’s a good idea?” She finally questioned, taking another sip of her tea before folding her arms over one another on the edge of the table, leaning forward and glancing up at her brother who moved closer to the kitchen now.

“Well, for starters, I’ll most likely be busy.” George looked down at Ginny before quickly peaking over at Aurora. His eyes narrowed a bit as he spoke again, “Not to mention Aurora would probably have a freak out at all of the magic. Mum told me her reaction to side-along apparition with you.” He scoffed, keeping his eyes trained on Aurora to gauge her reaction. He was being mean on purpose. He may have forgotten the fact that she took his wand from him so he couldn’t go home, but he didn’t forget that she had rejected him. How could a guy forget something like that?

Aurora kept quiet. Her eyes focusing in on George as he spoke. She wasn’t going to fall for the bait. Not today. “He’s right,” She began softly, finishing up her cup of tea as she pushed the chair out and moved to the sink. “It might be a little overwhelming for me, Gin. But… I think I can handle checking out other shops.” Aurora turned around, leaning against the sink as she looked to Ginny with a comforting smile.

Ginny stayed silent, eyes moving back and forth from her brother to Aurora. What was she missing? The air around her felt off. _I’ll have to ask Aurora later…_ She thought to herself again before sitting up against the back of the chair. “That’s perfectly fine with me, Rory. You know, I heard Oliver Wood was back in town visiting his parents for Christmas. Maybe I can send him an owl before we head out to let him know you’ll be out with me.” Ginny smiled innocently, glancing back at her friend.

Aurora chewed on her lip. “God, Gin. That was one time. Why did I bother telling you?” She laughed, trying to ignore George’s presence, and his glare.

“Oliver Wood, eh?” George looked down at Aurora as she took her seat again next to Ginny. “Heard he played for the same team.”

Ginny rolled her eyes, “Georgie, don’t be so crude. Oliver Wood certainly does not play for the same team… Just ask Aurora.” She giggled, elbowing her friend with a wide smirk.

Aurora laughed back, her eyes moving from the table to George’s face. Ginny knew what she was doing. Aurora was sick of being meek. If George wanted to be a jerk to her, she could be a jerk right on back. “No, he certainly does not play for the same team. Though, it has been three years so a lot could have changed since then.” Aurora cleared her voice, absentmindedly playing with her hair as she started pulling strands into a braid over her shoulder. “He was sweet. If you absolutely must send him an owl, Gin, I’m not going to stop you. I guess it would be nice to see him again after all this time.”

George let out a huff, watching Aurora talk about Oliver Wood. Why the fuck did he care? George had been rejected before and had never let it bother him too much. It’s not like he loved her. Or even liked her. George simply was hurting. He knew she was hurting as well, so why couldn’t they use each other to feel better? The elation that came with having sex wouldn’t last long, he knew that, but it may have been worthwhile.

“Right, well, I’m off.” George gave his sister a quick hug before he turned and apparated with a loud crack.

“Ok, time to talk. What the hell was that?” Ginny’s eyes narrowed as she turned to look over at Aurora now. Ginny was certainly not an idiot. She knew both George, and Aurora, well enough to notice something had happened between the two of them.

“He’s a prat,” Aurora began with a groan, “I’m sorry I know he’s your brother. But he is. He is just so rude to me, I’m not quite sure why or what I did to deserve it.” Frowning, Aurora played with the ends of her hair before speaking again. “He was super drunk last night and tried to apparate home. I wouldn’t let him, and he was pretty pissed.” She shrugged her shoulders, glancing up at Ginny hoping that the redhead would leave well enough alone.

Knowing that there was possibly something else Aurora wasn’t mentioning, Ginny decided to drop it. “Well, eventually he’ll come around and maybe even thank you for stopping him. He’s apparated drunk before and it was not pretty.”

Happy that Ginny decided to drop her interrogation, Aurora hoped that they would have a good day together. She was sure she’d get uncomfortable walking around Diagon Alley but if she wanted to have Ginny back in her life, she knew she would have to tolerate magic once again.

________________________________________________________________________________

It wasn’t long before Aurora and Ginny found themselves walking arm-in-arm down the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley. The side-along apparition went much better this time since Ginny decided to count to three for Aurora’s sake. The streets and stores were a bit crowded -the early afternoon hours beginning with the sun high in the sky and no trace of the snowfall from the night before remained. Aurora was doing much better than she thought, only a small amount of anxiety filled her head as they passed by Weasley’s Wizard Wheeze’s. She shot a quick glance to Ginny – she knew she wanted to go in and see her brother and the shop.

Aurora knew she wouldn’t be able to last too long in there. The butterflies in her stomach started fluttering at a faster rate now as Ginny started directing them closer to the shop. Before Ginny could even speak, a voice Aurora had not heard in three years interrupted them.

“Rory?”

Turning on her heel and letting go of Ginny’s arm, Aurora looked up to find Oliver Wood standing there with a wide smile on his face. “Bloody hell it really is you!” He said with a laugh, moving closer and wrapping his arms around her slender waist as her arms moved up and around his neck.

“Oli!” She giggled, placing a quick peck on his cheek. “Long time no see.” She smiled as she pulled back, letting her hands run down his arms slowly before falling to her sides.

“Hey Ginny. Fancy seeing you here, too.” Oliver joked, his attention turning to the shop that all three of them stood outside of now.

Ginny smiled and gave Oliver a quick hug in greeting. “Hi Oliver. Very surprising, I know. I thought I would show Rory around since it’s been a few years since she’s been here.” Tucking her hands into her coat pocket, Ginny glanced at Aurora and then over to the front door to George’s shop. “I’ll leave you two to catch up. See you in a little?” She glanced back at Aurora, who nodded to Ginny in agreement. Ginny then turned with a wave to them, walking into the front door of Weasley’s Wizard Wheeze’s. It wasn’t too busy, glancing down at her watch Ginny figured it would be because most of those out shopping were taking a break to eat some lunch.

“Hi Verity!” Ginny greeted with a wave, “Where’s George?” She started unbuttoning her coat and hung it over her forearm before following Verity’s hand signals that led her to the back office.

“Hiya Georgie!” Ginny didn’t even bother knocking, moving to hang her coat up on the rack by the door before looking down at her brother who was looking over paperwork.

“Hey Gin…” George glanced up, checking to see if she was alone since he had only heard one set of footsteps. “Where’s your friend?”

Ginny rolled her eyes, glancing over his shoulder now to take a peek at what he was reading. “She’s outside. Ran into Oliver so I’m letting them catch up.” Ginny explained with a smile. She ignored the way George’s hand that was holding the piece of paper twitched before moving to sit herself down on one of the empty chairs. “Let’s grab lunch together, yeah? We didn’t get much of a chance to catch up with everything going on for Christmas.” Ginny sounded hopeful, her round eyes pleading with her brother to agree with her.

He didn’t want to. But a part of him did miss spending time with his family, Ginny included of course. He ignored the fact that Ginny was now pouting out her lower lip and clutching her hands together tightly. “Sure.” He responded curtly. “Leaky Cauldron?” He placed the paper down and turned the chair to face his sister.

“Yes! Let’s go.” Once her coat was back on and buttoned up, Ginny ushered her brother out from the back office and through the shop. “Taking this big lug to lunch. I’ll have him back shortly, Verity!” Ginny said with a smile.

Verity looked shocked but a smile appeared on her lips as both of her hands waved erratically in the air. “Sure, sure! Go on and have fun! I’ll see you when you return.” She was just happy that George agreed to leave the shop to spend time with another human being.

Within a few minutes they had made it to the front doors of the Leaky Cauldron and entered quickly, getting out of the high-speed winter winds. “Oh! Rory and Oliver have got a table over there. I don’t think they’d mind if we joined, yeah?” Ginny didn’t bother looking over at her brother to see if he agreed, she was already unbuttoning her coat again and walking over to the booth by the window.

“Hey! Got room for two more?” Ginny beamed, looking down at Oliver before glancing to Aurora, who had quickly removed her hand from Oliver’s, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she made eye contact with George.

“Of course.” Aurora nodded, smiling over to Oliver who also did not seem to mind.

“Hey George! Growing out the ole’ beard, I see.” Oliver stood up from the booth, since he had been sitting next to Aurora, and moved to extend his hand to George for a handshake.

George ignored the comment about his beard. His eyes glanced to Oliver’s outstretched hand before begrudgingly accepting and shaking it firmly. “Oliver.”

“We haven’t ordered yet, you got here just in time.” Aurora stated, looking over at Oliver and George before turning to Ginny who moved to sit across from her. _What the hell was she doing?_

Before she could blink, George slipped his large frame into the booth beside her, a smug grin on his lips as he watched Oliver sit across from them, besides Ginny. Aurora’s hands were resting on her lap, fingers fumbling with one another as her eyes moved to Ginny.

“Fantastic. I’m starved!”


	9. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \-- Warning: Chapter contains SMUT (poorly written, i'm SORRY .... it's been a while. lol --

Lunch had gone by quickly to everyone but Aurora. George’s looming presence besides her made her extremely uncomfortable. Especially when she felt him always glancing over at her as she spoke with Oliver. Oliver had genuinely been interested in Aurora’s muggle life, asking her all sorts of questions about what she was doing with her life, what she enjoyed doing and if she would ever be interested in attending one of Puddlemere United’s games. He could score her, and whoever she wanted to bring, tickets.

After their plates were empty and taken away, George found his hand slowly inching along the edge of the seat beneath the table. His pinky finger extended a bit, moving against Aurora’s thigh – he made no movement to look at her, his eyes focusing on Oliver as they spoke about quidditch. George may have been depressed and a bit of a recluse – but he still followed the professional quidditch league.

Aurora was in the middle of planning out what they were going to do for the rest of the day with Ginny when she felt George’s fingertip brush against the outside of her thigh. She froze for a moment, not daring to look over at him. He was desperate – and Aurora didn’t appreciate getting dragged into it. This wasn’t fair to her so why did she find herself moving her hand down from her lap, gently letting her fingertips graze against the back of his hand? She wasn’t sure what was worse, the not-so-innocent touches between herself and George beneath the table, or the goo-goo eyes she was giving Oliver whenever he spoke to her. _What the hell was she thinking?_

“You know, I think I might be ok enough to check out the shop.” The brunette spoke up, moving her fingertips from George’s skin before returning her hands to her lap. She smiled at Ginny, seeing how excited the redhead was at this decision.

Once the bill was paid, George and Oliver both stood at the same time and tugged their coats on. Ginny and Aurora soon followed and walked off after the guys onto the streets of Diagon Alley. George and Ginny were now ahead of Oliver and Aurora, making their way back towards Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.

“I’ve got to head back home, Rory. We’ve got practice tomorrow morning and I’ve got to stop by my parents to pack my bags.” Oliver moved his hand to her lower back as they walked, turning himself towards to as he spoke. “Can I see you again?” He asked, a hopeful look on his face as his eyes searched hers.

“Of course, Oli.” Aurora said softly, leaning over and pecking his cheek softly. They stopped walking now and were leaning into one another before Aurora made the move to wrap her arms around him. One hand moved to the back of his neck as she ran her nails against the back of his head against his scalp. “I-uh, well I don’t use magic anymore. So, we’ll have to figure how…” She admitted, chewing on her lower lip as she pulled back and looked up at him.

“Well, that’s alright.” Oliver shrugged his shoulders, his strong hands found their way to her hips, giving her a soft squeeze. “I know my way about London.” He told her with a small laugh. “We’ll figure it out.”

Before she could register what was happening, Oliver moved one hand to the side of her face. His thumb gently brushed against her cheekbone as he leaned down to press his lips against hers. His touch brought back a lot of memories of the wee hours of May 3, 1998.

\-- -- --

_May 3, 1998_

Good prevailed Evil. They had done it! The war was finally won! Voldemort was destroyed and his remaining followers were already being rounded up to be transported to Azkaban. So why wasn’t Aurora happy?

She was standing off to the side of the Great Hall, her hands shaking at her sides as her eyes remained on the ground beneath her. Her hair was messy. Knotted into oblivion, dust, blood, fragments of concrete tucked into the strands from having been thrown into a wall not too far from where she stood now. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, standing out against the dust and blood caked onto her once clear skin.

She was trying to work up the courage to go in and see who else had fallen. Her brother, Michael, was in there. She had been the one to drag his lifeless body through the doors. She wasn’t sure how she had managed to drag him as far as she did because he was so much bigger than she was. Oliver had seen her struggling and quickly put himself to use.

“Aurora…” Oliver had whispered, his hand wrapping around her wrist as he looked down at her. “Let me help.”

With that, Aurora nodded and lifted her brother’s legs while Oliver lifted Michael’s body at the shoulders. Once his body was settled among the other fallen, Aurora stood in silence – legs and hands trembling, her eyes wide and full of tears.

She wasn’t sure how long she had stayed there before moving to the hallway. Before she knew it, Oliver had found her again. Whatever he was saying to her, though, she couldn’t hear him. Oliver took it upon himself to bring Aurora back to his flat. Neither of them uttered a word to one another for the next two hours. He had gathered toiletries and a change of clothes for her before leaving her alone in his bathroom.

Aurora wasn’t even sure how long she was in there for. The water turned ice cold and that was all she remembered as she stood there beneath the strong stream of water, watching the once clear water streak down her body and rinse black and red.

Afterwards, she found herself dressed in Oliver’s clothes and laying down on his bed as he showered himself. By looking at the clock on his nightstand, it was now four o’clock in the morning. Aurora’s body was exhausted, as well as her mind, but she could not seem to find sleep.

Once Oliver was out of the shower and dressed himself, he found his way to the bed and sat down beside Aurora.

“Do you need anything?” He made sure to speak softly, not wanting to scare her. His hand moved to rest over hers, linking his fingers with hers as he gave it a squeeze.

Aurora stayed silent, blinking away more tears before she gave his hand a squeeze back. She knew it was wrong. She knew they had both been through a literal war. She knew her brother was laying dead in the middle of Hogwarts Great Hall. But that didn’t stop her. She needed some form of comfort and right now, Oliver was sitting in front of her – almost as broken as she was.

She didn’t speak. Pushing herself up so she could sit up, she moved one leg up and out, laying it across his lap before she reached forward and pulled him towards her. Her lips found his roughly, her hands grabbing at his shirt. Before she knew it, the shirt was up and over his head, flying to the floor beside the bed.

Oliver had maneuvered himself over Aurora now, her legs locked together at her ankles around his waist. Teeth against teeth, tongue against tongue – clashing wildly without any abandon. They both knew this was wrong but it didn’t stop them. Before long, Aurora laid bare beneath him, her hands moving from their place on the bed by her sides to push down the what was left of his clothing.

“Are you sure about this?” Oliver managed to get out, his voice barely a whisper as he reached over to his nightstand to pick up his wand. If they were going to do it, they might as well be safe.

Aurora didn’t answer him with words. She let her hands do the talking – wrapping around him and giving him a few swift pumps – to her surprise he was already hard.

“I need to hear you say yes, Aurora.” Oliver said with a moan, closing his eyes and leaning his head back at her touch.

“Yes, I need you.” She finally answered him, moving both hands up to his chest as he whispered the contraceptive charm, the tip of his wand gently pressed against her lower abdomen. Aurora felt the warmth of the charm taking affect before she nudged him onto his back. At this sudden chance of position, Olivier tossed his wand off to the side – not caring where it landed at this point.

His hands found their way to her waist again – her hands pressing down against his chest as she lifted her hips and shifted to sink down onto him slowly. Her mouth hung up as the fullness between her legs, her eyes clenched shut as she rocked her hips to take all of him and settle for a moment to let her body become familiar with his. They soon found the pace that worked for them – skin slapping roughly against skin, her nails digging into his shoulders as her heard was thrown back and a moan escaped from between her lips.

Her brain was screaming at her to stop this. That it wasn’t right and that they would both regret it in the morning. But her body refused to listen. It just felt _so_ good.

With a quick yelp, Oliver had her back beneath him, hair splayed out against his pillows. “Aurora…” He whispered, rocking his hips against hers and staying still for a moment as he looked down at her. His forehead came to rest against hers, his heavy breathing matching her own as his hands ran down her thighs, grabbing at her knees and hoisting her legs further up and apart before he started roughly pounding into her. “Fuck,” he moaned, his eyes falling shut as his lips pressed against hers again. His tongue massaged hers, investigating the rest of her mouth as her hands moved to either side of his face. She could feel her core tightening up and the warmth spreading further down to the tips of her toes as his one hand left her knee to move between them at her most sensitive bundle of nerves.

As she felt herself falling apart beneath him, Aurora let out a loud cry, her legs trembling before tightening around his waist. “Oli,” She managed to get out, her hands moving to his sides as he continued to relentlessly pound into her. She was started to come down from the high, her fingernails digging into his skin as tears started pouring down her cheeks. The movement of his hips stopped as soon as Oliver noticed the tears on Aurora’s cheeks. “Aurora, no, please don’t cry…” He moved his hands to her face, leaning up a bit but keeping himself inside of her. His thumbs brushed against her skin, moving the tears before he leaned down to kiss them away.

“It’s ok, I’m ok.” She whispered hoarsely, her hands soon moving to the sides of his neck, holding him there close to her. “Please keep going, Oliver. I need you.” She told him, pressing her lips against his, pushing her tongue out to run against his lower lip before nibbling it gently.

Oliver let her kiss him, his hands staying on her cheeks as his hips started moving again. She felt amazing around him and the way her hands moved along his skin only made things better. With a final thrust, Oliver came apart – spilling himself inside of her as a moan escaped his lips that were now pressing against the skin between her collarbone and her neck.

They remained attached for a few more minutes and with tears still streaming down her cheeks, Aurora found herself feeling too empty once Oliver pulled himself out and laid beside her. His lips pressed softly against her shoulder while his arm wound its way around her waist. Her body fit against his perfectly.

Her eyes shut tightly before she moved herself around to face Oliver, her face pressing into his chest as her arms wrapped around him. She found comfort in his body one way and now she found herself needing it for another.

“It’s ok,” he whispered into her hair, his fingertips gliding against the soft skin of her back as he moved to pull the blanket up and over their naked bodies. “I’ve got you.”

She wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring. With one final sigh and tears still finding ways to escape – Aurora finally felt sleep take over. 


	10. Ringing In The New Year

The next few days after Aurora’s trip to Diagon Alley with Ginny went by quickly. She had stayed the week at the Burrow, helping Molly around the house and working through explanations of muggle technology with Arthur. She also drank her fair share of wine after having Ginny apparate them back to Diagon Alley so she could venture out into muggle London to buy a few bottles for them. Since walking into Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes after kissing Oliver, she has not seen or spoken to George. He stayed away from the burrow for the most part, but the morning of New Years’ Eve she did heard his voice from upstairs as he apparated to invite Ginny, Ron, and the rest of his siblings to his flat for a party later that night.

“Aurora too, yeah?” Ginny spoke up with a smirk, her head tilted off to the side as she looked up at her brother. “Yeah, yeah, sure… Didn’t know she was still here.” George replied flatly, his hands digging back into his coat pockets. Ginny nodded as her response to George, glancing over her shoulder as she heard footsteps on the stairs.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Georgie.” Aurora spoke a bit harsh, but also with a humor. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked up at him once she walked over to stand between Ginny and Ron. “Georgie?” Ron laughed, making a face as he watched his brother’s reaction to the affectionate nickname, he so obviously did _not_ want Aurora calling him.

“S’alright _Rory._ ” George bit back, shifting his weight from foot to foot before glancing back to Ginny. “Before you ask, no, don’t worry about bringing anything. I’ve got a kitchen full of alcohol and food.” He told his sister with a small smile. He was really trying. He _was._

Ginny nodded back enthusiastically. “Great!” Her gaze turned to Aurora who was standing awkwardly, trying to move her hair to cover the blush that was starting to spread on her cheeks. The sound of her own affectionate nickname rolling off his tongue…. did something to her. _Strange._

Aurora watched as George spun away with a loud crack. A breath she didn’t realize she was holding slowly escaped through her lips. Almost standing in a daze, Aurora ignored the conversation between Ginny and Ron as it pertained to her and George.

“I think I know who Aurora will be kissing at midnight!” Ron howled with laugher, earning a gentle punch to the arm from his sister. “Ron! Stop!” Ginny growled, though she was also trying to hide a smile and a laugh.

Aurora snapped out of it, turning to look at the redheaded siblings. “What?” She cleared her throat, running her hands through her hair before she shook her head. “Sorry, I kind of zoned out a bit.” She turned to head back up the stairs so she could try to figure out what she would be wearing, “And Ron,” She stopped halfway up, turning to look around to look over her shoulder at him, “I won’t be kissing anyone at midnight. That’s dreadfully cliché, innit?” She joked with a smirk.

Ginny laughed with her head back at this. “Godric, I love you Aurora. Never a dull moment.” She pat Ron’s shoulder as she walked past him. “Now let’s figure out what we’ll be wearing tonight! I haven’t seen Harry since the morning after Christmas.” Ginny wiggled her eyebrows playfully as she linked arms with Aurora and walked the rest of the way up the stairs and to her bedroom together.

\-- -- --

Apparating with Ginny, clutching tightly on her arm, Aurora took a moment to regain her footing once they arrived outside of George’s shop – his flat right above the storefront. She was particularly proud of herself for only having had a few…major freak outs in regard to magic. Maybe she could have the best of both worlds.

 _No._ She wasn’t thinking about unlocking her wand and diving right back into the wizarding world. But she could see how being a part of Ginny’s life again was bringing her up from the brink of loneliness and darkness. In the past week, Aurora was aware that she had not laughed or smiled this much in a very long time. It made a warm, fuzzy feeling spread throughout her body. The darkness that loomed over her mind and her heart was slowly breaking apart, letting the light shine in.

Ginny was not sure if George had invited anyone else, like Lee, Angelina, or Katie, but she told Aurora to make sure she looked her best in case there were any single wizards in attendance. To that, Aurora rolled her eyes of course. She wasn’t thinking about finding someone to kiss as midnight. To be frank, her mind was still teetering between the kiss with Oliver – in the same spot she was standing in now, actually – and the gentle touch from George’s fingertips beneath the table. Now that she thought of the latter again… she would really have to give him a piece of her mind tonight. She hadn’t had the time to do so until today.

It was around 7 o’clock in the evening when they arrived and much to the girls’ surprise, George had invited Lee, Angelina, and Katie, as well as a few other people they had gone to school with. Ron, Hermione, and Harry arrived at the same time as Ginny and Aurora – coming straight from work. Before long the party seemed to be in full swing. Aurora had successfully been able to avoid George as she sat perched on an armchair, talking with Lee and Angelina about attending university.

“Oi – do you smell that? What the bloody hell is burning?” Lee laughed, scrunching up his nose at the smell of something burning. Everyone turned their attention to George who was standing with his back to everyone in the kitchen area of his flat. Aurora hadn’t really paid much attention but noted that he has trimmed his beard and groomed it to look presentable. His hair was not as messy or greasy as it usually was and was slicked back from his forehead.

“Shut up Lee!” George groaned, waving his wand a bit as he set the burnt brownies down on top of his stove.

“Even with bloody magic and he burnt some brownies!” Ron joined in with the others with a laugh.

Aurora bit on her bottom lip. Her fingers twitching as they gripped the glass of wine that she was holding close to her chest. Making eye contact with Ginny from across the room, she knew exactly what the look the redhead was giving her meant. Sipping on the wine, Aurora let out a sigh as she moved to walk into the kitchen. Her heels clicked against the tile softly – her hand moving out to safely place her glass of wine down on the table before moving to hold her hand out to George.

“This is a very expensive dress and I would prefer not to get anything on it. Please tell me you have an apron?” She looked up at George with a small smile. Her dress had been from an expensive muggle designer, something that she had treated herself to for her last birthday. It was gold and shimmery, the material tight against the entire length of her body and reached only mid-thigh. Luckily for her, since it seemed she was getting her hands dirty tonight, the dress had thin spaghetti-straps instead of sleeves, that if she moved a certain way would fall down her shoulders.

George stared down at her in disbelief. “You think I have an apron?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he pocketed his wand.

Aurora continued with her hand outstretched, looking up at him. Another moment went by and George finally broke – letting out a sigh. “Fine, yes, I have an apron. Can’t tell you last time I used it.” He let out a small laugh, rolling his eyes as he moved towards the pantry and yanked out the apron.

Aurora grinned and grabbed it from his hands, tucking her head carefully through the neck strap before looping the rest around her body and tying it off in the back. “I’m going to need you to bring me all of the ingredients. They’re not hard to make…. without magic.” Her voice laced with a bit of sarcasm as she moved to discard the burnt brownies that George had made – magically.

George groaned in response, but his feet found their way to the pantry again, gathering the ingredients before tossing them onto the countertop and walking away. He didn’t want to stick around and watch her bake. The sight of her in his dirty old apron and that short dress was enough to make his brain go haywire. Instead, he moved into the living room and found himself in conversation with Angelina.

Aurora worked her magic in the kitchen – no pun intended, of course. Ginny lingered around, licking the batter once it was poured into the pan and placed in the oven. “You must really be important at the bakery, Ro, because just the mix alone is delicious.” Ginny giggled, already feeling the effects of the alcohol she as consumed. Aurora smiled, a small blush crept onto her cheeks as she cleaned up the mess she had made before setting the timer to ensure they didn’t have another burnt batch of dessert. She tugged the apron from her form, hanging it on the back of the pantry door before taking a seat at the table.

“I guess,” She shrugged modestly, looking up at Ginny and Harry who now joined her. Lee tumbled into the kitchen, raising a bottle up high in the air. “We are all not as drunk as we should be. There are only a few more hours left of the year, let’s play a game!” He exclaimed loudly, grinning ear to ear as he took a swig from the bottle and moved back into the living room.

Once everyone was sitting around in the living room, they all started discussing what games they could play. “There is this muggle drinking game I can show you all...” Aurora interrupted Lee’s “you only live once” monologue, the bottle still swinging about in the air. “They call it flip cup.” She moved to clear a table off, ignoring George’s heated gaze as she explained the game and set up the cups.

Everyone, even George, joined in. One game had come to an end as Aurora heard the timer going off. “Go on without me!” She giggled, her tongue darting out to the corner of her mouth, licking up the remnants of the alcohol from her cup. She moved into the kitchen and took out the brownies – cooked to perfection. She set them down to cool before moving to pour more wine from the bottle she stashed in George’s fridge.

Another two hours had passed by and everyone was feeling stuffed from the snacks and alcohol – smaller groups of people mingling with each other talking about their plans for the new year. Aurora was feeling pretty good. The wine she drank never gave her too much trouble, just a small buzz in her head and butterflies in her stomach. Her eyes darted around the room, watching everyone interact before glancing at the clock. It was now eleven thirty. The countdown could officially begin.

She found herself moving down the stairs slowly, one hand wrapped around her wine glass while the other held tightly on the railing for support. She peered around the aisles of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, glad that it seemed like George turned the magic “off” once the shop was closed to the public. She let her fingertips run along one shelf as she inspected the vials of a pretty, pearly pink potion.

“You could use those on Oliver.” George spoke up from behind her, giving her quite a fright as she jumped and clutched onto the glass with both hands now. The last thing she wanted was to drop the glass, break it, and most importantly – spill her wine.

“Blimey George, you have got to stop doing that.” Aurora said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him from over her shoulder. “And thank you, but I don’t believe I need any sort of love potions to get Oliver into my bed.” With that declaration, she turned on her heel and started walking further away, praying that he didn’t notice the way she couldn’t walk in a straight line as she rushed away from him.

George stayed put as he watched her walk away from him. He noticed the slight wobble in her step, a small smile forming on his lips as he started following her. “I didn’t mean to offend you,” He said with a shrug, taking a sip from his glass of firewhiskey.

“But you did.” She spat back, now finished the wine, a small pout forming on her lips as she stared down at the empty glass in her hands. She set the glass down, her fingertips moving in circles around the rim as she looked up at him through her thick, long eyelashes. “Why did you do it?” She asked, refusing to look away no matter how much his stare made her want to turn away with her thighs clenched together.

“Do what?” George asked, moving closer to her now as he leaned against the wall across from where she stood.

“You know what, George. The other day at lunch…” She crossed her arms over her chest, still refusing to back down from his gaze. “Your behavior is all over the place and it’s not fair to me. You touched me. You… You bloody kissed me on Christmas!” Her hands were now thrown up in the air, eyes narrowed and dark as she stalked towards him. Her finger pushed into his firm chest roughly, “You can’t do that to someone, especially not me. I’m not a toy, or – or a game, George.”

George’s gaze softened a bit as he let her poke at his chest. She was angry, and the alcohol was probably giving her the confidence to speak to him this way. “I wasn’t playing with you.” He told her with a shrug, finishing off the firewhiskey before setting his glass down beside hers on the windowsill. “Just trying to have some fun, I suppose.”

“Well stop. I am not here for you to play with. You are not the only one still hurting.” Her lower lip trembled a bit before she turned to look away from him. “I think of him every single day, George. My brother was my best friend, too,” She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks now, moving to quickly brush them away with her hands hoping she didn’t smear the mascara that was surely staining her skin now.

“I didn’t assume that I was the only one hurting. Fred was my fucking twin. He looked exactly like me. What do you think I see when I look at myself in the mirror? Him! His face. Not my own.” George exclaimed. He was now getting frustrated that Aurora was painting him out to be a bad guy. “He was my partner in everything and to have to see his face in my own, that’s bloody fucking devastating Aurora.” He told her, his hands now moving to pull out his wand, summoning the bottle of firewhiskey that was no longer hidden in his office. He poured himself a drink, before pouring some into the wine glass Aurora had brought with her.

Silence washed over them for another few minutes. George gulped down half of the glass before he moved to walk over to Aurora, handing her the glass he filled for her. She wiped away more tears, looking up at George with a hint of suspicion. She didn’t verbally thank him but gave him a nod before gulping down the burning liquor with a groan.

The sounds of the party above them started getting louder. She couldn’t see a clock, but she knew they were closer to midnight now. She finished the drink and set the glass down again before moving quickly to the front door. She walked outside, hoping the cold air would help wake her up.

“Where are you going? It’s bloody cold outside,” George quickly summoned his coat, as well, following Aurora outside and shutting the door behind him before draping the coat over her shoulders. He was now taking sips directly from the bottle of liquor, eyeing her with a bit of concern.

“Thanks.” She whispered, not bothering to put her arms through the sleeves of the coat. Instead she gripped the sides and wrapped them closer together around her as if it was a blanket. She plopped down onto the lip of concrete before the doorway, her legs getting pulled up to her chest. “I’m sorry you have to see Fred every time you look in the mirror.” She looked up at him as she noticed his feet start pacing in circles ahead of her.

“It’s not your fault he’s dead.” George bit back, maybe a bit too harsh as he noticed her recoil from his voice. “S-Sorry, didn’t mean to be mean.” He sounded sincere. Another swig of the bottle and he moved to sit beside her on the stoop. Offering her the bottle, George crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing at his upper arms for some warmth.

Accepting the bottle, Aurora took a small sip and handed it back to George. A week ago, silence between them would have been extremely awkward and uncomfortable. The silence right now was almost comforting in a sense. Moving her arms through the sleeves of the coat now, she hugged her knees close to her chest. The material pressing against her nose smelled like him. A woodsy-type scent, almost. Smoke and cedarwood. It smelled good – Aurora found herself taking in a large whiff before letting out a soft sigh.

“ _Ten!”_

_“Nine!”_

_“Eight!”_

“Are you cold? I feel bad wearing this,” Aurora looked over at George, nibbling on her lower lip as she watched him visibly shiver and take another swig of liquor.

“ _Seven!”_

“ _Six!”_

”Worried about me catching a cold, are you?” George tsked with a laugh, “I’m ok, don’t worry. Firewhiskey is helping with that.” He told her, turning to look down at her. His eyes moved to her lips, watching her teeth release her lower lip slowly.

_“Five!”_

_“Four!”_

“Yes, alcohol is certainly good for that.” She giggled, her eyes not leaving his face.

“ _Three!”_

_“Two!”_

_“One!”_

_“Happy New Year!”_

Silence remained between George and Aurora. The hoots and hollers from above rang out loudly. They both had heard their friends shouts but had not made a move to join them in the countdown to midnight.

“Happy New Year, George.” Aurora leaned over and softly pressed her lips against his cheek. She pulled away quickly though, pushing herself up and taking off his coat to drape over his own shoulders. She walked into the shop, finding her way back to their friends.

George sat perfectly still, closing his eyes at the feeling of her soft lips against his skin. It was a rather nice feeling. Comforting, almost.

She was long gone before he was able to speak.

“Happy New Year Aurora.”


	11. Friends?

The year 2002 certainly started off with a bang. Aurora found herself spending every weekend, that she had off from work, at the Burrow with Ginny. The month of January passed quicker than she would have liked, but she was glad that the warmer weather was just around the corner now. It was now February 14th. _Valentine’s Day._ Aurora hated this made up holiday more than your average person. If she loved someone, she wouldn’t only spend one day showing them that. Maybe she was a bit crabby because things didn’t pan out with Oliver like she had hoped. Did she really hope something would have happened? She couldn’t answer that truthfully because she still felt torn.

They had seen one another a handful of times throughout the month of January. Kissed a few times, even, but there was no spark. Aurora knew to expect that. The night they spent together after the battle was void of any sparks, or any kind of romantic feelings really. She used him. She felt awful for it now that she thought more about it…but in a way he used her, too. They needed that comfort, they needed to expel the sadness any way that they could. Aurora was hitting herself now thinking that sex was the only way to do that.

“What time are you meeting Harry?” Aurora glanced down at Ginny as she raked her fingertips through her hair, moving strands around to help her perfect the look she was going for. Ginny’s face was already pressed with make up and her dress was sitting delicately on the foot of her bed. Aurora, on the other hand, had her hair in a messy bun, strands cascading out from the tie and framed her face. Her skin was void of any makeup, and her clothes were wrinkled and would be what they call “lounge clothes”.

Ginny glanced up at the clock, her eyes widening. “Oh bullocks! An hour! Help me get into the dress? I don’t want to wrinkle it.” She cried, pushing herself up, shedding the silk robe that had been tied loosely around her waist. Aurora moved to follow Ginny to the bed, helping her into the dress before sitting down and watching her friend slip her heels onto her feet. “I’ve never known you to be a dressy type of gal, even for Valentine’s Day…” Aurora tilted her head to the side. “Is this one special?”

Ginny blushed deeply. “Well… Harry’s been doing really well for himself as an Auror. I think he may want to, you know,” Ginny cleared her throat, spinning a bit in her mirror to get a complete look at her attire. “Take the next step. Maybe. I don’t know, maybe I’m a foolish lovesick girl…”

Aurora smiled widely. She shook her head and clapped her hands together, “Oh Ginny! Hush, that is wonderful news. Marriage?”

“Oh…goodness no. At least not yet. But I’m thinking he may ask me to move in with him.” Ginny grinned, moving now to complete her look with a pair of earrings.

“Well, that is still pretty big. You’ll have to figure out that phone I gave your father to call me and tell me all about your night.” Aurora joked, moved to put her trainers back on and grab her purse before following Ginny downstairs. They said their goodbyes to Molly and Arthur, putting on their coats and apparating to Diagon Alley.

Aurora thanked Ginny for dropping her off here before she scurried off to meet Harry for their dinner. Turning on her heel, Aurora stuffed her hands into the front pockets of her coat as she walked off towards the Leaky Cauldron. Music, laughter, and shouting could be heard a block away from the bar. Tempted only the slightest bit, Aurora bit on her bottom lip before thinking _what the hell_ , pulling open the door and walking in, heading straight for the bar.

Aurora had been a few drinks in, sitting alone in the corner of the bar. She could barely hear the dreadful music over the raucous laughter of the men sitting beside her. She kept her eyes forward, hands loosely gripping the glass of fire whiskey. She found herself digging into her pocket and placing a few coins on the bar before tugging on her coat and rushing out of the front door.

She should have headed in the opposite direction. She should have gone the bricks that would lead her to the streets of London. She should have been thinking about anyone else but him.

“Bloody hell…” She whispered to herself, running her hands down her face as she looked up at the shop, she found herself loitering outside of. The shop was still open, she had looked down at her phone for the time before dropping it back into her purse. Shifting weight from side to side, Aurora continued to gather courage before she moved to pull open the door and walk in. A few lingering customers were milling about random aisles, picking up items, inspecting them, and respectfully putting them back in their place. 

“Hi there, welcome to Weasley’s Wiza-“ Verity began to greet Aurora before stopping herself. “You’re Aurora, aren’t you?” She asked, eyes narrowing a bit as she inspected the brunette with her head tilted to the side.

Shocked that the girl behind the counter would have known who she was, Aurora nodded in response. “Yep, that’s me!” She laughed awkwardly, glancing around a bit before looking back to Verity. “Is-“

“He’s in the back.” Verity cut Aurora off before she even finished her question.

“Thanks.” Aurora smiled and soon found her way to the office. The door was shut so she reached up and gently knocked on the door with her knuckles before stepping back. She didn’t hear any noise in response from her knocking, so she moved forward and raised her hand to knock again – only this time the door swung open as she started moving her hand. “Oh!”

Standing before her was George. He was clean shaven, and his hair had been cut a bit shorter, but still was long enough to tickle to bottom of his earlobes. His dress shirt had a few of the top buttons undone, and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. “Aurora?” He looked down at her, his eyes widening a bit as he took her in. “What are you doing here? Is Ginny ok?” He asked, peering around her to see if Ginny was trailing behind.

Aurora cleared her throat, “I’m sorry for barging in here. Uh, yes, Ginny is ok… On a date with Harry now.” She told him with a soft smile. “I was just, you know, in the neighborhood.” Her speech was a bit slurred, but she tried to shake it off as she pushed past him to walk into the office. He didn’t fight her on it. He moved out of her way and let her walk in, watching from the corner of his eye as she spun around to get a look at the whole room before turning to look back at him. “Decided to pop in and see how you were spending your Valentine’s Day.” Her lips formed a pout, giggling a bit before she moved to sit down in the chair by his desk.

“And you’re drunk…” George stated matter-of-factly. He watched her for another moment before he glanced over his shoulder and shut the office door. He moved to stand by her side, pulling open the top drawer and pulling out a small vial of clear liquid. “This, here,” he explained, setting it down in front of her. “Is a sobering potion. Which you need to take. Only one of us can be a desperate loser, Rory, and that desperate loser is me.”

Staring up at George in awe, she moved her hand up to rest against his cheek. “You look like a grown baby… Like a man but a baby.” She stated, letting her fingertips rub against his soft skin before she pulled back and pulled the cork off the vial, downing it with a groan. The effects were almost immediate. The cloud in her head started to disappear, allowing her to take back control. “Bloody hell that tastes like piss, George.”

George threw his head back in laughter. This was not how he expected the next time he saw Aurora to go. They hadn’t spoken or laid eyes on another since she kissed his cheek and wished him a happy new year. “Well, it does the job, yeah?” He looked down at her again, a smile on his lips.

“Who are you and what have you done with George Weasley?” She asked, raising an eyebrow but a smile had formed on her lips.

“New and improved…Well, improving, I should say.” He puffed out his chest jokingly before moving to pull a chair closer before taking a seat.

“Anyway, what are you _really_ doing here?” George cleared his throat, crossing one leg over the other, his hands resting on his calf.

Aurora blinked. “What do you mean? I already told you I was, you know, in the neighborhood.” She explained, her eyes narrowing a bit. “I mean, I had this crazy idea in my mind that maybe we should call a truce, or something…” Aurora cleared her throat and shifted in the chair, shoving the cork back into the neck of the vial, the smell of the potion was lingering in the air and was starting to make her head ache.

“A truce, eh?”

“Yes, George… a truce. Your sister is my best friend. Now that I’m around more,” She looked down at her hands for a moment, playing with the string on the pullover hoodie she was wearing. “We should be friends. Or, “She blushed, “At least be civil with one another. It’s only fair to Ginny. And your parents… they’re quite fond of me, you know.” She smiled, a laugh escaping through her lips as she looked up at him to find him staring over at her.

“Yes, they are quite fond of you.” He agreed.

“Well?” Aurora bit on her bottom lip. The anticipation was killing her. “What say you, George Weasley?”

George stayed silent. He moved to stand and hold his hand out to her. Without question, Aurora took his hand and pulled herself up to stand. He kept his hand in hers, wrapping his fingers around her palm, gripping tightly. He then gave their combined hands a solid shake, a smirk forming on his lips as he peered down at her.

“Friends.”


	12. Opening Up

“Friends.”

Aurora beamed up at George as she repeated the word he had spoken to her moments before. “Right, well, friends drink together, yeah? I find myself in need of some hard liquor now that you’ve made me sober up.” She groaned, pulling her hand out of his grasp a little too slowly. She enjoyed the feeling of his fingertips brushing against the palm of her hand as she pulled away. The feeling sent sparks in her lower belly and a shiver down her spine.

“Yes, friends drink. Leaky Cauldron?” George had already moved, ignoring the look Aurora was giving him as she held her hand, that he had just been shaking, closing to her chest.

“Yes, that would work best for me. That way I can sneak on out through the back and get home.” She told him, tucking her hands now into her pockets again.

George asked if Verity could close up the shop, to which she agreed to, a smirk on her lips as she watched George head out of the shop with Aurora by his side. They made it to the Leaky Cauldron in record time, finding a small booth in the back before George had gone up to the bar and grabbed them both two glasses each of some fire whiskey.

“Beautiful.” Aurora grinned as she quickly grabbed one of the glasses from George’s hands, gulping back half of what the glass was filled with.

Aurora knew she shouldn’t be drinking as much as she was – recently she had been doing pretty well with her intake of alcohol. She had cut back tremendously since spending time with Ginny and the rest of the gang.

“Any particular reason you are so adamant about getting drunk tonight, Aurora?” George smirked, eyeing her from over the rim of his glass as he finished the first one. “Boy troubles?” He joked.

Groaning and throwing her head back so it hit the back of the bench – lucky for her, it was cushioned, so she didn’t hurt herself too much. She squeezed her eyes shut before lifting her head and glaring over at George. “Bugger off, George!” She laughed, her fingers back to playing with the strings of her pullover. “But, yes, fine. How could you tell? Do I really just reek of pathetic desperation and loneliness?”

George sighed and shook his head, “No, you don’t. I mean, maybe just a little bit.” He moved his thumb and index finger closer together to mimic “a little bit”. He let out a laugh and then a grunt as Aurora had kicked his chin. “You’re not making this any better, friend.” She told him with a pout, another gulp of fire whiskey running down her throat before she sunk down into the bench a bit more.

“I tried things out with Oliver,” She began, knowing that she wanted to get these things off her chest and Ginny had already heard the story. But as her best friend, Ginny was obviously saying whatever she could to make Aurora feel better. She needed another opinion. She wasn’t sure if she would be happy with what George had to say, but if they were going to really try out this whole being friends thing, she wanted to put forth the effort.

“It obviously didn’t pan out the way I was hoping. He really is a very sweet man, don’t get me wrong. But,” She cleared her throat, glancing up at George – who was leaning forward with his chin resting on both palms. He truly looked interested, but Aurora knew it was killing him to not make jokes at her expense. “I used him for comfort after the war. It was purely physical, and Merlin I was young… I don’t think either of us knew what we were doing was wrong on many levels. I had just left the grounds of Hogwarts, a place that was supposed to be a second home, someplace safe. And after leaving my brothers dead body in the Great Hall, I felt so lost.” She sighed, chewing on her lower lip now. “Oliver took me back to his place, let me shower, gave me clean clothes to change into. And well, before I knew it, I was practically begging him to shag me… I just wanted to feel something other than sadness.”

George remained silent. He knew the feeling all too well. He had his fair share of reckless nights with random women. The morning after he never felt better as he had always hoped. His eyes focused on her face, watching her further explain that there was no spark, no true connection other than the pain that the war had caused. “A smart, yet annoying witch once told me we all grieve in different ways.” He began, a small smile finding its way on his lips as he took a small sip of the second glass of whiskey.

“Oh?” Aurora’s cheeks were wet from her tears and without wanting to look like a total lunatic, she wiped at her cheeks, drying her skin as much as she could. “Annoying and smart? I mean, truly she sounds like just the type of witch you’d want to be friends with, no?”

George smirked, “Eh, well, that remains to be seen.” He joked with her, his foot soon nudging hers beneath the table. “I’m just joking, don’t get all emotional on me.”

Aurora forced out a soft laugh, rolling her eyes over at George. “Very funny, Georgie.” She said, sticking her tongue out at him before finishing the second glass of fire whiskey. She was appreciative of the quick change in subject. She didn’t know if she could continue on telling George how pathetic and lonely, she was. She knew he felt the same way, though. Maybe it was the reason she felt so comfortable talking to him about everything.

George remained silent for a moment or two before speaking up, “You’re not the only one who used someone else to feel better, you know. I’ve done my fair share of bed hopping.” He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Certainly not something I’m proud of but we can’t change the past.”

“You’re right. We must keep moving forward with our lives. The world isn’t going to wait for us to get better, that’s for sure.” She sighed, leaning her elbows on the edge of the table now, glancing up at George before looking away and studying what was going on around them. “Do you think we could help each other?” She turned her attention back to George now, tilting her head to the side as she watched him.

“Help each other?” George questioned, leaning forward himself and resting his chin in the palm of his head. “Well, honestly, it sounds like a bit of a disaster.” He laughed, “Us being friends, I mean.” He told her.

“What is that supposed to mean? Do you truly hate me that much that you can’t really see yourself being my friend?” She questioned. Beneath the table her leg started to bounce. She was nervous. And worried… Was he being honest about his feelings? Did he not want her to be around and be her friend? She could feel her palms start to sweat as she thought more about it.

George rolled his eyes, “Stop. Relax,” He slowly reached out and grasped onto her hand firmly. “That is not what I meant. I was just joking… You’ll come to understand that most of the time, the things that come out of my mouth are bloody ridiculous and you should never really take me seriously.” He told her, not bothering to move his hand away.

Aurora sighed, looking up at him before she laced her fingers with his. She squeezed his hand, trying to ignore the fact that it was so much larger than hers, and that her hand felt nice hidden beneath his. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat, pulling her hand away when she felt his hold loosen. “Putting myself out there has been really hard. Especially with someone like you.”

George feigned offense, “What is that supposed to mean, Sinclair?” He smirked a bit, leaning back in the booth, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh Godric, George.” Aurora covered her face for a moment before groaning, “I didn’t mean anything bad. Just that, you know, you’re a wizard. For the most part, I’m still living my life free of magic. It’s been a bit hard since I’ve started coming around again, but I just can’t bring myself to open up that box and even look at my wand.”

“You’ve got your wand locked up?” He tilted his head to the side, sincerely feeling interested in why Aurora chose to forget about her magic.

“Yes. I don’t really feel comfortable discussing that right now, to be honest, George.” She chewed on her bottom lip, looking over to the clock before back at George. “I should get going. It’s late and, uh, well I just want to make sure I can get a taxi home…” Her voice trailed off as she moved to stand.

“I can take you home.” George pushed himself up quickly, one hand resting against the table as he looked over at her.

“No, you can’t!” Aurora giggled and shook her head. “You’ve never been there before. And you’re not going to be able to apparate to my flat if you’ve never seen or been there before.” She told him, raising an eyebrow.

“You can use my wand?”

Aurora now stared up at him in disbelief. “How much have you had to drink before I showed up? You’re not making any sense, you know.” Without anything further, she turned around and walked off towards the back of the establishment.

“Wait! Aurora!” George groaned, moving quickly to follow her. Lucky for him, she had little legs – at least compared to him, so he caught up to her fast. “Ginny will never forgive me if I let you go home alone, especially this late at night. Can I at least come with you and then I will be able to apparate home once I know you’re safe?”

Aurora rolled her eyes, “Big brother Georgie is sweet.” She teased him, glancing over her shoulder at him before continuing to walk forward – now moving through the bricks to enter Muggle London. George continued to follow her, and she continued to remain silent. Chewing on her bottom lip she raised a hand to hail a taxi. Watching as one pulled up, she looked over at him. “Leave your wand in your pocket, keep it hidden please.” She then slid into the back seat, letting George in beside her before giving the driver her address and leaning against the opposite door, scooting herself further away from George.

The ride to her flat was silent. She pulled money out of her purse to pay the drive once they got there and gently nudged George out of the back before following him out. She had taken out her keys and unlocked the door before moving in before George. “Follow me.” She said softly, motioning with her head for him to follow her up the stairs.

A few flights of stairs later, she opened her front door and let George in. “Home sweet home. Luckily, I don’t have a room mate anymore, so you don’t have to worry about getting caught by a muggle.” She said, locking the door behind her.

George stayed silent, taking everything in as he inspected the main living area. He watched Aurora take off her trainers and hoodie, placing them away in a closet. He quickly turned around when she came to join beside him, eyeing the picture frames he was checking out.

“They’re not moving pictures, where is the fun in that?” George joked, holding a picture frame up that held a photo of Aurora and Ginny, back when they were first years. “Ah yes,” Aurora laughed and took the frame from his hand, her fingers brushing against his as she did so. “Well, in the muggle world, there are no moving pictures. We’ve got video recording, though, but that’s something entirely different. With sound and everything. Almost like those movies I’ve shown your father.” She said, smiling down at the picture before moving to put it back where George had taken it from.

“I’ve got a crazy idea,” George looked over at Aurora. “What if you teach me about living like a muggle? And in exchange, I can start introducing you to different products we’ve got in the shop? It’ll almost be like…exploring out of both of our comfort zones, yeah?”

Aurora looked up at him with wide eyes. “Um,” Her cheeks turned a bit red. “I don’t know. I’m quite nervous about magic still, as you know.”

“Yeah, but I’ll never push you to be around something you don’t like. You have my word on that, Aurora.” George sounded so sincere. He reached over and grabbed her hand. He held it loosely at first but found that she quickly laced her fingers with his and gave his hand a squeeze.

“You talk a good game, George Weasley. But I have one condition.” Aurora told him, raising her brow before moving to turn away and pull him with her towards her bedroom. What she was about to do was big. She could feel the butterflies fluttering around in her lower stomach and she almost felt as if she was about to be sick.

She moved to nudge George to sit on the edge of her bed. Smiling up at him, she dropped down to her knees. She tried to keep a straight face as she watched his eyes widen, almost in horror, but also excitement. “W-What are you doing? I... You don’t have to do anyt-“He was cut off as he watched her reach down beneath her bed and pull a small box out.

She placed the box in his lap and burst out into laughter. “Oh…Oh! Godric George. What the bloody hell did you think I was going to do?!” She exclaimed, now falling backwards onto the floor, her head thrown back with laughter escaping her lips. George’s face was now bright red, all the way up to the tip of his one ear.

“You know exactly what I thought you were going to do! Bloody hell, Aurora, that’s just plain mean!”


	13. Pursuit Of Happiness

“Are you done laughing at me?” George groaned, his entire neck and face were now bright red and most likely warm to the touch. He narrowed his eyes at Aurora, who was still cackling loudly – her body sprawled out on the floor beside her bed.

“Oh…Oh George, I can’t-“ She tried to speak between laughter, her hands clutching onto her stomach as she tried to catch her breath. The laughter slowly started to die down, her hands now pushing herself up into a sitting position, wiping at the corners of her eyes that were now wet from tears. “I’m sorry, that was just… That was too good.” She laughed softly, shaking her head before looking up at him with a wide grin. “I can’t wait to tell everyone.”

“Oh no you don’t!” George exclaimed, shaking his head profusely. “Please, Aurora, I’m your friend now. Friends don’t embarrass friends like this!”

“George, how many friends have you had in your life? That is exactly what friends do!” Aurora told him, now moving to sit beside him on her bed. She turned to face him, pulling one leg up onto the bed and bending it at her knee to press her foot into the opposite thigh. She bounced the other leg a bit, curiously watching George as the blush started to disappear.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” George sighed, shaking his head before leaning it back to look up at the ceiling. “What is this box anyhow?” He glanced over at her, noticing that she was still watching him.

“My wand.” She said softly, chewing on her lower lip.

It had been two years and three months since she last saw her wand. In the beginning, she would open the box and look at it. Maybe let her hand slip into the box to run along the smooth wooden instrument before quickly closing the box at the first spark beneath her fingertips. Come to think of it, the last time she touched a wand was Christmas Day and it wasn’t her own. It had been his. She often wondered if he remembered that she took his wand away from him or not. He never mentioned it. But then again, they didn’t have many conversations since that night.

“Why are you giving it to me?” George cleared his throat and moved to sit exactly how Aurora was. The box nestled down onto the mattress between their legs, his eyes stayed on it as he kept one hand on the side of the box, gently rubbing his thumb against it before glancing back up at her. “I don’t know if I’m understanding what you want me to do with it, or at least why you’re showing me.”

“Well, Georgie,” Aurora reached out and gently flicked his nose with her index finger, making a ‘pop’ sound with her lips as she did so. “If we’re going to help each other be less depressed and more mentally stable,” She joked, looking down at the box before she ran her fingertip along the top. “I trust you with holding onto this for me… That is, until I’m ready to use it again.”

She slowly pushed her up towards the top of her bed. She stretched her legs out with a soft sigh before leaning over and pulling open the drawer of her nightstand. She pulled out a small key and laid back again, her head sinking into the soft pillow beneath her. She held the key up and gestured for George to take it.

“Aurora…” George’s eyes widened a bit as he watched her, shifting a bit out of her way as she made her way up her bed. “I can’t accept this. It’s a lot to ask of me.” He told her softly, picking up the box and placing it on top of her nightstand before looking down at her hand that was now holding out the key to him. He looked up at her and bit on his lower lip. The look she was giving him was doing something to his insides. Ever since the battle and losing Fred, George rarely felt bad for other people. Looking into Aurora’s deep blue eyes and seeing the complete and utter heartbreak, as well as fear – well it just did something to him. How could he help her when he, himself, was broken too?

“George.” She eyed him, noticing that he wasn’t moving to take the key from her hand. She sighed and leaned over again to set the key on top of the box. She smacked the pillow next to the one she was laying on and smiled at George. “Please.”

Without hesitation, George moved to kick his shoes off and lay down on his back, letting his head sink down against the comfortable pillow. Godric, he’ll have to fight to keep his eyes open. This bed was bloody comfortable. “Why me?” He had closed his eyes before opening them and rolling over onto his side, looking over at Aurora was also curled up on her side.

“You’re broken. Just like me. And as crazy as it sounds, I trust you. And not just because you’re the big brother of my best friend.” She told him, a sad smile forming on her lips.

George smiled back, tucking one hand beneath his head as he watched her. There was something innocent about her and her rationale. She wasn’t wrong. He was certainly broken. He hadn’t gone out much with friends, or even his family. He had only recently shaved the mess of a beard he had grown and had cut his hair, too. He finally looked like an upstanding citizen and not the resident drunkard.

“When was the last time you used magic?”

Aurora sighed and shifted herself just a bit closer to George on the bed. Her head remained on her own pillow as she reached out and brushed a strand of hair off his forehead with a smile. “The last day I used magic was the day after the war ended.” She told him, leaning on her hand once she had pulled it back to her. “The last spell I used was when I ran away after fucking Oliver.” She blurted out, rolling her eyes, and laughing at herself. She shook her head and moved to roll onto her back. Her hands linked together and rested on her stomach. “That day we all had lunch was the first time I had seen him since I left him early that morning. I was embarrassed with myself that I let that happen. I didn’t even wake him up to tell him I was leaving. I just got dressed, apparated back home and cried myself back to sleep after removing any trace left of him on my body.”

George listened intently, trying his best to keep quiet and to not silently judge her. He stayed on his side, his gaze landing on the side of her face, bouncing from freckle to freckle. She didn’t have many, and he wasn’t sure if she had been born with them or if they were just little sunspots. He found himself memorizing the way her nose sloped, the way her lips parted as she sighed, or the curve of her thick, dark lashes. He watched her move her hands to her face, a loud groan escaping from her lips now.

“I’m so embarrassed.”

“Hey… hey, no. None of that.” George reached out and was able to pull one hand from her face. He leaned up a bit, peering down at her with a grin. “Let me tell you about the time I slept with Angelina.”

“How is that going to make me feel better, George?” Aurora asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned her head to face him a bit more.

“Well, you see the thing is…” George then explained everything about the one drunken night that he slept with Angelina Johnson. They had both been drinking. It was the night of Fred’s funeral. He had been a right mess, and quite possibly had more than just alcohol coursing through his system. He couldn’t…perform. At least not at first. His neck and face were bright red again as he recounted the attempts to get hard while a beautiful girl laid beneath him, ready and willing.

“Merlin George, ok, that’s enough. I feel better. Sort of.” Aurora reached up and clasped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. “Thank you. I appreciate you embarrassing yourself all over again just for my sake.” She told him. And she meant that. She was feeling more comfortable with George as the minutes passed by.

“You’re quite welcome.” George let out a laugh and grinned beneath her hand, peeling it from his mouth and before dropping it, placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “My story was much worse, by the way.” He laughed, moving now to lay on his back. They were laying side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Silence soon took over. It was comfortable. All that could be heard was the soft breathing from both George and Aurora. George found his eyes slowly starting to close but he shook his head, knowing he shouldn’t spend the night. Judging by how tired he was, and how heavy his eyes felt, he knew he should sit up so he could apparate home. “I should get going.” He said softly, moving to sit up and shove his feet back into his shoes.

His announcement didn’t receive a response and George found himself glancing over his shoulder and down at Aurora who was sound asleep. Her eyes were shut, her lips were slightly parted as she seemed to snuggle a bit further into the bed. With a smile, George pocketed the key and leaned down to cover Aurora in her blanket. Reaching down, he gently tucked hair behind her ear so that it was out of her face. He took in a deep breath and picked up the box in one hand, his wand in the other.

“Goodnight Aurora.”

_*CRACK*_

\-- -- --

Two weeks had passed since that night. Aurora had woken up alone and usually she would have felt embarrassed for falling asleep with George still lying in bed with her. Their conversation had turned serious and although she did have quite a bit of alcohol that night, she was sincere in her confession of trusting him. Ginny had come over the day after, telling Aurora all about her night with Harry. Just like she thought, he did ask her to move in with him. Ginny knew Molly would be sad to see her baby girl leave the nest, but that this was only a step in the right direction because Ginny knew she would marry Harry eventually. They were meant to be together. Aurora was extremely happy for Ginny. They had gotten so lost in the conversation of Ginny and Harry that she _almost_ forgot to tell her about her adventure with George.

She didn’t want Ginny to get upset about Aurora becoming closer with her brother. Luckily, once Aurora started explaining everything that had happened, Ginny was grinning ear to ear. She was happy that they were both putting themselves out there. Aurora could have sworn she noticed Ginny with a proud look on her face as she told her that George was going to help introduce her to magic – at an extremely slow rate – because Aurora still wasn’t sure if she was truly ready to embrace her magic again.

It was now the first of March. Aurora, once again, found herself at the Burrow. She was helping Ginny pack up her belongings to move into Harry’s.

“How sad is your Mum?” Aurora asked, delicately folding a few more shirts before placing them into the suitcase she was letting Ginny borrow for the move.

“Godric, don’t get me started, Rory.” Ginny sighed softly, chewing on her lower lip as she moved to pack up all her toiletries before sitting down on the edge of her bed. “She knew this was going to happen…eventually. I wasn’t going to live here forever. I want to get married, have kids…” Ginny grinned, a blush crawling across her cheeks as she laid back and let out a long sigh. “It was always Harry. You knew that, Ron knew that… Mum most certainly knew that. I was in love with the bloody kid since I was eleven!” Ginny exclaimed, a laugh escaping her lips now as she looked over to Aurora – who was still folding some of her clothes and putting them into the suitcase for her.

“Yes, we definitely all knew Harry was end game for you, Gin.” She grinned, closing the suitcase now that it was full. She moved to lay beside Ginny on the bed, their legs dangling off the edge. “Don’t worry about your Mum, though. She’ll be ok. It’s not like everyone will stop coming by. Dinners here are kind of what I look forward every weekend now, you know.” Aurora giggled, looking over at Ginny with a grin.

“Just the dinner?” Ginny teased, rolling onto her side as she leaned her head on her hand looking over at her best friend.

“Ginny.” Aurora rolled her eyes and rolled onto her side as well, staring over at her friend. “How many times do I have to tell you that your brother and I are just friends?” She sighed, glancing over at the clock. “Speaking of, he should be here soon. After we drop you off at Harry’s, I’m supposed to head over to the shop and help him with a new product. He won’t tell me what it is, and I am totally freaking out.”

Ginny closed her mouth, knowing that if she were to speak, she would say something that would annoy Aurora even more. Ginny was happy her friend was slowly opening herself up again, she was – but she hated that she was denying the kind of relationship she had with her brother. Ginny had noticed the last time they were together – which was last week for dinner – that George was a bit touchy feely with Aurora when he thought nobody was around. Of course, Aurora kept pushing him away with a laugh. Was it one-sided? She knew Aurora wouldn’t use her brother or hurt him… at least not on purpose. “I’m sure you’ve got nothing to worry about. George is quite serious about your _friend_ ship…” Ginny smirked, sitting up as well as she moved to charm most of the boxes and bags to make them smaller so that they could carry more while floo’ing to Harry’s connected fireplace.

Before Aurora could respond, the door was pushed open. Standing there with a wide grin was George. “Hello, hello!” He said loudly, his cheeks looked flushed and Aurora was wondering if it was the windy weather from outside, or if he had been listening to their conversation.

“Hi Georgie!” Aurora said with a smile, looking up at him as she moved to grab one of the bags from the bed. She was juggling a few more in her arms as she turned to start heading towards the door. Ginny was smiling at the nickname Aurora used, looking over at her brother before moving to walk past him with her arms full of boxes. From downstairs she could hear her Mum crying to her Dad about being empty nesters but then remembering that her sweet Ronald was still living at home for the time being.

“Here, let me take that.” George moved forward towards Aurora, taking a few of the bags from her arms with a smirk. “Can’t have you overworking yourself! I need you at your best today. I’m pretty excited about the product I’m going to be showing you.” He told her, moving to walk out, Aurora following him as he spoke.

“George, I’m nervous. Should I be nervous? It’s bad enough I’ll be using the Floo network for the first time in almost four years…”

“No, don’t be nervous. For starters, I’ll be following you through the floo. You aren’t facing magic alone.” George told her genuinely, moving to now start down the stairs as he glanced over at Aurora. “And the product isn’t terrible. I promise!” He laughed, “It doesn’t make loud noises, and it’s nothing that can hurt you.”

Aurora seemed to relax at George reassuring her on both using the floo and the product at his shop. “Don’t make me regret trusting you, Mr. Weasley.” She said softly, chewing on her bottom lip as she moved to set the boxes down by the couch.

“What was that sweetheart?” Arthur’s voice rang out as he peered around the wall from the kitchen.

George laughed, his eyes darting from Aurora to his father. Aurora’s cheeks turned dark red. “Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Weasley. I uh…I was talking to George.” She told him with a small smile.

“He’s not making you call him that, is he?” Arthur raised a brow as he peered over at his son before looking back to Aurora. George rolled his eyes before picking up the boxes and moving them closer to the fireplace. He wanted to make sure Ginny didn’t forget anything before leaving because he didn’t want to make more than one trip. He was quite excited to spend the rest of the day with Aurora, alone.

“Oh!” Aurora laughed and shook her head. ”Godric no. I like to call him that because it bugs him. Since he’s so old and all.” She joked, glancing over at George who turned with his hands on his hips. “I am only three years older than you, Sinclair! Mind your tongue.” He glared before letting out a laugh again.

Molly stood in the kitchen, a wide smile on her lips as she watched the interaction. She could not be happier to see the change happening within her son. Of course, she was extremely thrilled to see that he had shaved off the beard and had cut his hair. But she was even more thrilled at the idea of him being _happy._ Genuinely happy, too. There had been moments in the past three, almost four, years that she thought to herself she would never see his smile again.


	14. Deadly Conversation

_“I wonder if you think I’m wasting time  
I bet you got it all figured out.  
But must we try to break the ice  
beneath this heart of mine”_

**“Deadly Conversation – State Champs”**

**\-- -- --**

Using the Floo network for the first time in four years had turned out to be a success. Aurora was surprised, to say the least. But it had helped that George followed right after her, and as soon as he had stepped out of the fireplace he had moved to set boxes down and rest his fingertips, stretched out, against her lower back. They had stayed for a little over one hour, Aurora helping Ginny unpack and tidy up the bedroom a bit. George had taken a cup of tea with Harry in the kitchen as they watched the girls flitter back and forth with boxes and little knick knacks. The place most certainly needed a woman’s touch and Ginny would have no problem being the woman providing that ‘touch’.

Taking the Floo to George’s flat above the shop, Aurora found herself collapsing onto his couch and stretching out her legs as she kicked her shoes off. George glanced down at her with a grin. “What? Are you tired? Come on, we’ve got some fun in store today!” He told her, moving to lift her legs and sit himself down on the couch before resting her feet on his lap. There was something intimate about this and George found himself enjoying the way her toes curled in at the sudden touch of his hands on her feet. “You’re not ticklish, are you?” He grinned, almost deviously, as he went to run his fingertips along the flat part of her foot.

“No!” She screeched, pulling her feet out of his grasp, and almost falling off the side of the couch as she moved to sit up, pulling her feet beneath her as she laughed. “I’m not ticklish… Not at all.” She cleared her throat, brushing away strands of hair that fell into her face as she looked over at him, sticking her tongue out. In all honesty, Aurora was scared that this friendship with George felt so natural and came so easy. She didn’t want anything to happen that would destroy the bond of friendship, not only between herself and George, but with Ginny too.

George was still grinning. He watched Aurora hide her feet now, scooting to the edge of the couch now, leaning back against the side. He then moved to stand, moving back down the hallway before entering a room off to the right. Aurora glanced over and watched him disappear, assuming he had gone to grab the product before returning to her on the couch. “Are you going to tell me absolutely everything about this before I test it out? I’m getting really nervous, George!” She called out to him, chewing on her bottom lip as she watched him walk back out, a small vial in his hands.

“Don’t be nervous.” He told her.

Aurora rolled her eyes, moving to sit closer to the middle of the couch now. She took the vial from his hands and inspected the bottle, shaking it a bit and looking at the liquid sloshing around inside the glass. “That’s much easier said than done, you know. Especially around you.” She joked, a small laugh escaping through her lips before she chewed on her bottom lip again. She held the vial and turned to face him where he was seated now, beside her on the couch. He had moved his long arm to the back of the couch, gently brushing against the side of her upper arm as he did so.

“Ok, please keep an open mind.” George began, chewing on his lower lip as he looked over at her. “This is a love potion –“

Before George could even continue, Aurora let out a loud, dramatic grown. She shoved the vial into his hands and laid back again on the couch. Her arms crossed tightly over her chest and she then burrowed her feet beneath his thigh after she had given him a swift push. “You are a prat, George Weasley. I am not testing out a love potion. You are out of your bloody mind.” She told him, her eyes narrowing as she looked up at him.

George let out a laugh, glancing down as her feet burrowed beneath his thigh. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her, scooting further away from her so now her feet were out in the open. “You didn’t even let me finish.” He sighed, leaning on the back of the couch as he held the vial back out to her. “It’s not aggressive, or anything.” He began again, shaking the vial a bit before moving to set it in her hands that were now outstretched to accept the vial. “This is going to help enhance your sense of taste. But in a good way. Everything that you find enjoyable, it will just make it… better.” He shrugged. “And to test it out, I made sure I brought a few things I know you love.”

George let his hand rest on her knee before giving it a tight squeeze. He pushed himself up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Within a few minutes, he returned with a bottle of wine and a plate full of brownies. “Wine and brownies?” Aurora gasped, a small smile appearing on her lips as she sat up again, letting one leg hang off the side of the couch as she tucked the other beneath her. Aurora started firing off question after question, the fact that she was nervous was pretty apparent now as she chewed on her bottom lip.

“How does this work? Have you tested it yourself? What about side effects? I’m not going to, you know, like rip my clothes off and try to seduce you, am I?”

George set everything down on the table before him. “Relax, Aurora. No, you won’t rip your clothes off and seduce me… Unless you want to.” He joked with a smirk, earning a shove from Aurora and a glare. “But yes, I have tested it myself. It made the glass of fire whiskey taste like absolute heaven. I didn’t experience any negative side effects, either.”

Aurora sighed, eyes bouncing between George, the vial in her hand, and the plate full of brownies. “Should I take a sip and a bite before I drink the vial? Maybe to see the difference?” She questioned, moving to set the vial down before pouring herself a glass of wine and picking up a brownie. “Yes,” George agreed, “That’s a good idea. I just want to make sure the potion is complete and not missing anything… Which I think it’s good, but I wanted someone other than me to test it before heading to production.” He told her with a soft smile.

_Merlin, even the way she bit into that brownie is making me all hot and bothered._ George thought to himself, eyeing her lips as they parted, teeth as the bit down into the brownie, and her tongue as it darted out along her lower lip to pick up any of the crumbs that had fallen off. George shifted a bit in the couch, pulling down at his jeans to provide some relief between his thighs.

“Well, for starters,” Aurora cleared her throat, setting the brownie down and taking a sip of the wine. “The brownies are much better than what you baked last time.” She joked, a smile forming on her lips as she set the glass down and looked over at him. She pulled the cork out of the vial and gave it a quick sniff before downing it. The taste was much more pleasant than the sobering potion she had taken a few weeks ago. She closed her eyes and let the liquid run down her throat, warming her insides as it went. She let her tongue dart out and run around on both her top and lower lip. She could feel her fingertips start to tingle and wondered if that was supposed to happen. She couldn’t quite place the flavor, though. It tasted sweet and a bit tart. Perhaps it was elderberries, even though the liquid was clear.

“The taste is good,” She began, opening her eyes as she looked over at George. “Much to my surprise.” She giggled, pushing the cork back into the opening before setting the vial down. “It tasted like elderberry, to me. Is that the flavor you were going for?” She questioned, genuinely curious about his method of creating a new potion.

George smiled, “Actually, the taste is different to everyone who takes it!” He beamed, absently tapping his fingertips on his thigh as he watched her. “It took me a while to figure it out. I had to take a few methods from Amortentia and strip it down a bit to make sure it worked.” He made a mental note to remember that she enjoyed elderberry.

George had so much passion about his products. Aurora found herself smiling back at him as he spoke about what he did to make the potion taste different to whoever was drinking it. “That’s brilliant, George!” She told him, moving over now to pick up the glass of wine. “Does it take a certain amount of time to take effect?” She questioned, swirling the wine around and taking a small whiff of it to see if it had smelled any different to her.

“No, it should be almost instant.” He replied, urging her to take a sip of the wine and another bite of the brownie. He really wanted to watch her bite that brownie again. Lucky for George, he got his wish. Aurora took a sip of the wine. Her eyes closing for a moment before opening widely. “Bloody hell.” She said, looking at George from over the rim of the glass. “It…tastes better. Almost stronger?” She said, moving to take another sip before setting the glass down. It was now empty.

“Stronger how? Good or bad?” He asked, leaning his head down against his hand that was propped up on the back of the couch. “Definitely good. Not too strong that it like changed the amount of alcohol I can taste if that makes sense.” She picked up the brownie between two fingers, her mouth almost watering at the sight of the chewy dessert making it’s way closer to her mouth. “Merlin, I love brownies.” She sighed happily, licking her lips before taking another bite. She threw her head back and let out a soft moan. “George, you are a fucking brilliant wizard. Do you know that? Is it safe to take this potion every day? If my food always tastes this amazing…” She trailed off, “Actually, never mind. I would never stop eating. And that would not be good for my waistline.” She laughed, taking another bite of the brownie before setting it down. She stuck her finger into her mouth, gently sucking off the crumbs that were leftover.

George kept his eyes on Aurora. They were wide as her finger disappeared between her lips. _Bloody hell, what are you doing to me?_ George held in a groan as he chewed on his bottom lip. “I’m going to take that as a good thing?” He laughed, shifting himself again on the couch as he turned a bit more inward.

Aurora nodded eagerly, “Yes. Very good.” She told him, her lips stretching up into a smile. “How long does it last?” She asked curiously. Without thinking, she moved to pour even more wine into the glass and finish off the brownie she had started eating. Stopping for a moment as she set the bottle down, Aurora inspected the label. This was her favorite muggle wine. It was sweet and had subtle hints of citrus flavors throughout. She shook her head, choosing to forget about the possibility that George had inquired about her favorite wine and dessert to Ginny. The female redhead probably had a field day if that were the case… Aurora could only imagine the thoughts Ginny had when George had asked about what wine and dessert her favorites were.

George never took his eyes off her. Following the movement of her hands as they poured more wine and picked up the remaining bite of brownie left on the plate. “For me, they lasted about three hours. I think that seems to be fairly baseline. Do you think it should last longer?” He leaned forward and picked up a brownie to eat, finishing the entire piece with two bites.

“Three hours?” She repeated, tapping her fingertip against her chin as if she were deep in thought. “I think that seems fair. Especially if it’s going to be used for special occasions.” She nodded, lifting the glass again and taking another sip. A soft moan escaped her lips as she leaned her head back against the couch, a smile lingering on her lips. “I love wine.”

George laughed softly, stretching his arm out across the back of the couch again as he leaned back. “I can see that.” He responded with a smile. “See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about. Are you feeling better now?” He asked, looking down at her as he waited for her response.

She opened her mouth to respond before closing it again. George could see the figurative wheels turning in her head as he studied her face. Before long, she was going through a fit of giggles. “Oh my god, George. It’s like…” She covered her mouth and leaned over to whisper closer to his ear, “You made like… a viagra…but for food.”

George’s face twisted up in confusion. “A what?” He asked, not knowing what she meant. Was it a muggle thing?

“VIAGRA!” She basically shouted the word at him between another fit of giggles, drinking down the rest of the wine before she picked up another brownie. She broke it in half and moved to hold one half out to him. He went to take it in his own hands before she pulled it back. “What the hell is a VIAGRA?!” He exclaimed, making sure to raise his voice as he said Viagra, looking over at her and pouting as she teased him with the brownie.

“It’s a medication that muggle men use when they can’t …” She trailed off, clearing her throat, and peered down at his lap. “You know. Get it up.” She giggled, finally letting him take the brownie from her hand.

George’s cheeks flushed red, “You’re not just saying this because of the story I told you the other week, are you? Because if you are, that’s just cruel.” He groaned, instantly regretting the vulnerable… _deadly_ conversation that they had.

“No! George…No!” She sighed, licking her fingers again as she finished the brownie, moving to gently cup the side of his face with her hand – the one she kept clean from brownie dust. “Please don’t think that. I’m sorry, don’t get all embarrassed now.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I would never make fun of you. It was just a similarity I thought of with the potion, that’s all. I promise.” She smiled weakly as she let her thumb brush against his cheek. “And now that the giggles have left my system, it’s not so much a Viagra and more like an…enhancement lubricant.”

George eyed her, “Merlin… so you mean to tell me all muggles are sick and twisted in the bedroom?” He joked, not breaking eye contact with the woman sitting before him with her hand on his face.

“It doesn’t make them sick or twisted.” She slowly pulled away and shrugged her shoulders. “You’d be surprised at all of the gadgets that have been created to have sex feel better than it already does.”

George cleared his throat, looking down at his lap as he tossed the brownie into his mouth. “Well now I know why you’ve been living as a muggle.” He teased.

Aurora gave him a playful shove before standing up and cleaning up the table, walking into the kitchen as she put away the wine and brownies. “Speaking of sex,” She began as she walked back into the living room. “Have you and Angelina ever tried to give it another go?”

George sighed and shook his head. “Not since that night. I mean, we’ve kissed a bunch but never gone any further than that. I don’t think she’s looking to settle down with a man like me. She deserves better.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, George Weasley. You’re a catch.”

She was too sweet to him. George didn’t deserve the kindness, or friendship. The dark thoughts in his head continued to swirl around rapidly as he watched her move around his living room, picking things up and moving them around a bit after inspecting whatever it was she was holding. He didn’t deserve any happiness. And he most certainly didn’t deserve any kind of love. Whatever was blossoming between himself and Aurora wasn’t love, he told himself. It was purely physical. And it was something he already told himself he was never going to act on again, especially after she had rejected him on Christmas. He knew he was in the wrong when he went to kiss her - so why did he constantly try to remember the feeling of her lips against his? He needed to get laid. Maybe after taking Aurora home tonight he could stop by the Leaky Cauldron and find someone.

Lately, nothing had been working out in his favor.


	15. Birthday Boy

Just as he planned, George got Aurora home safely before traveling back to the Leaky Cauldron. He had spent a total of, maybe, an hour there before going home with a tall, blonde witch. She didn’t look familiar to him, and he wasn’t sure if she had known him during their time at Hogwarts or not, but at this point he came to the bar looking for one thing, and one thing only. No pleasantries mattered at this point. He obviously was not going to stay the night at her place, making sure to quickly pull his clothes back on after they finished having sex, and apparating home. The hole in his chest was still there. No matter how many times he tried to patch it back together with drunken nights full of lust, it would always be right there. It would constantly remind him that his better half, his best friend, Fred, was gone. He was never coming back, and he would always feel guilty about laughing with anyone else.

The days and night to follow passed painfully slow. George found himself at the bar each night. A different woman each night. His beard was starting to grow back in, but this time around he tried his best to do what he could to maintain it. As crazy as it was, having the beard helped him be able to look in the mirror and not see his brother. At least that’s what he told himself. He was getting better at spending time in the shop with Verity, keeping his cool composure and working successful along side her. He had even spent one night at dinner with Lee.

The night before his birthday was the worst. He hadn’t left the flat and was already down half a bottle of fire whiskey. Currently, he was sprawled out on the couch, his long legs taking up most of the cushion space. His hand grasped tightly to the bottle, letting it sit on the floor when he wasn’t taking swigs of the amber liquid. His eyes fluttered shut, a certain brunette gliding her way into his mind. He could have sworn he could even hear her voice. After taking another sip, he sat up and rubbed his face with his hands. He had never had this problem before. Becoming so seriously infatuated with someone who didn’t reciprocate the feelings. _Bloody hell, she probably looks at me like a brother._

“George!”

Perking up at the sound of his name, George shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Wait, that was not in his mind. He wasn’t imagining that… “Rory?” He called, pushing himself up and moving to the door of his flat that opened to the hallway and staircase which ultimately led to the back of his joke shop. Upon opening his door, he was blindsided by the small blue-eyed woman who pushed her way into the doorway. “Bloody hell, I’ve been calling your name for like five minutes!” She groaned, sounding completely knackered as she juggled a few things in her hands.

“Why didn’t you knock?” George asked, scratching the back of his head as he closed the door.

“Boy genius…my hands are full.” She told him, rolling her eyes as she set a few things down on the kitchen table. “But anyway… I was just at dinner with Ginny and Fleur. And it was boring because all they talked about was marriage, babies, and love.” She faked a gag, sticking her tongue out as she moved to pull open the bags, taking out some dessert, fire whiskey, and wine. “So, I thought, what better way to detox my system of all that shit is to spend the night stuffing my face with dessert and alcohol with my cool new friend, Georgie Weasley!” She giggled, glancing up at him as he walked into the kitchen, taking a sip of the fire whiskey again.

“Also, tomorrow is your birthday. And I know you don’t want to celebrate it… but let me at least provide you with some entertain for the night, yeah?” She paused for a moment, walking over to him, and grabbing his chin. She turned his head from side to side, leaning closer as if inspecting his face – which is exactly what she was doing. “Why are you growing out the beard again?” She questioned, letting go of his chin as she took a step back, eyeing him up and down.

“What? What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?” He asked, grinning from ear to ear as he took another sip of the fire whiskey.

“Eh… Well, ok, I’m not going to lie. You look devilishly handsome with the beard.” Aurora admitted, shrugging her shoulders before turning back to the table to pick up a brownie and already start stuffing her face with it. She went to the cabinet over the sink, picking up a wine glass so she could use it for the rest of the night. “Well what do you want to do birthday boy?” She asked, pouring wine into the glass until it was almost overflowing.

George sighed as he watched her move about his kitchen. She looked so comfortable… _at home_ , even. As he picked up the plate of brownies and moved them to the coffee table in his living room, George plopped down onto his couch, calling out to Aurora without glancing back at her. “I don’t want to celebrate my birthday. And first of all, we’ve still got two hours until it’s officially April 1st.”

“We can just drink, eat dessert, and talk about how everyone in our lives is happy and how much it makes us sick.” She joked, bringing the bottle in with her so she wouldn’t have to keep walking out to the kitchen to get a refill. After a few minutes of arguing back and forth about what they should do to pass the time – other than stuff their faces – George and Aurora found themselves laying by the fireplace on the floor. It had been quite chilly at night, but Aurora was glad the warmer weather was starting to break through.

With her head on his chest, Aurora absentmindedly played with a piece of fuzz from his shirt as they talked about what they think the gender of Bill and Fleur’s baby was going to be. “Of course, you think it’s going to be a boy. The poor Weasley family is overrun by testosterone. It’s just simply not fair.” Aurora giggled, pinching George’s side before tilting her head back and looking up at him. “I think it’s a girl. And Merlin, with Fleur’s genetics she is going to be a beautiful creature.” Aurora let out a sigh, moving her hand to now rest on his chest.

George wasn’t even sure when they had migrated from sitting beside each other on the couch to laying on the floor. He wasn’t going to complain, of course. Though a piece of him did feel guilty. Whenever they got close – physically – he always felt guilty. He used so many women, one for each night of the week and he never wanted Aurora to feel like she was just another body to him. Because she wasn’t. She was truly a breath of fresh air. The clouds were still hovering over his mind and heart, but he found the darkness to be bearable whenever she was near. His arm slowly slid around her shoulders, tugging her a bit closer to his side. They had both gone through an entire bottle of fire whiskey and wine, combined. George usually didn’t feel the common effects of alcohol but right now the room felt like it was spinning. He squeezed his eyes shut and held her even closer.

Aurora didn’t say anything at George pulling her close to him. She enjoyed the feeling of his body so close to hers. It brought a sense of comfort to her, not only physically but emotionally.

“You still didn’t tell me what you wanted for your birthday, Georgie.” She whispered, moving to lean up on her elbow now. She looked down at him and then quickly glanced at the clock. A wide grin appeared on her lips now, “It’s officially the first of April. You are now twenty-four years old.” She told him, reaching down to tap his nose gently. “Happy Birthday!” She exclaimed, moving to sit up and pick up a brownie. She tore it in two and held one piece out on the palm of her hand. “Pretend like there is a candle there.” She told him, gesturing to the brownie in her hand. “And I want you to make a wish and blow out the candle!”

George watched her with wide, curious eyes. A small smile was forming on his lips as he followed her every movement. “You are bonkers, Aurora. You know that, right?” He laughed, pushing himself up into a sitting position with his legs crossed beneath one another. He looked down at her small hand holding the brownie. “Why did you tear it apart? It’s my birthday, don’t I get a whole brownie?!” He exclaimed between the laughs that escaped from his lips.

“Hush. Do what I say or else you won’t get any of the brownie!”

George shook his head and took a moment to look like he was pondering what he wanted to wish for. He took in a deep breath, leaned forward, and gently blew on the brownie in her hand – as if there really was a candle lit on top. He grinned at Aurora, moving to quickly pick up the brownie and shoveled it in his mouth.

“Pig!” She groaned, flicking his nose with her fingertip before eating the other half.

“Aren’t you going to ask what my wish was?” George questioned, leaning back on his elbows before stretching out his legs in front of the rest of his body. “I’m sure you’re curious.”

Aurora shrugged her shoulders. Of course, she was curious. But she was also superstitious. All thanks to her Mum. She grew up believing that if you ever discussed your dreams, or wishes, with anyone that they would never come true. It was a hard belief to forget about when you grew up a dreamer. “Of course, I’m curious, George. But I don’t want your wish to not come true. That’s why you can’t tell me!” She told him, moving to lay back down again. This time, she laid on her side and kept her back facing the fireplace and the front of her body curled towards him.

George stayed silent as he glanced down at Aurora. If you asked him to pinpoint the exact moment, he knew he wanted to be more than friends, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. George wasn’t sure if her dark clouds mirrored his own and that was why he felt connected to her. The way she smiled and laughed, even though her heart was hurting. George was almost jealous. She didn’t look broken from the outside. On the other hand, George knew he portrayed the image of a broken man. He was getting better, yes – and with Aurora’s help no doubt – but he was still struggling.

His eyes roamed over her face again, watching as her eyes fluttered shut – her body inviting the heat from his fireplace in. “Are you tired?” He questioned, moving now to lay beside her and mimic the position of her body with his own.

“A little. But it’s most likely from the wine.” She let out a small yawn, quickly covering her mouth almost out of embarrassment. She was almost certain she looked atrocious when she was yawning. “It usually makes me sleepy.” She told him. She let her eyes fall shut for a moment before opening again and meeting his gaze. It was intense, but still gentle at the same time. His eyes searched hers as his hand moved to gently cup the side of her face. Aurora could feel her heart speed up at the contact of his rough hand against her soft skin. The butterflies were awake in her stomach now, causing her to suck in a deep breath and hold it in for a moment or two before exhaling. “Before I forget,” She whispered, moving a bit closer to him, her hand moving to rest on top of his. “Let me give you your birthday present.”

Before George blink, Aurora leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against his. He watched her eyes flutter shut and as creepy as it was, he kept his eyes open for a moment only to double check that this was in fact happening. He kissed her back, letting his eyes fall shut as he moved as close to her as possible. His hand that was once on the side of her head was now behind her, holding her tightly to his chest, fingers gripping in her hair. He would, without a doubt, admit that this was the best birthday present he had ever received.

Their lips stayed still for a moment. George was the first to pull away. He looked down at her as their eyes met. He didn’t want to say something for fear of ruining the moment between them. His hand stayed wound up in her dark locks before his forehead leaned against hers. Taking a leap of faith, George let his lips press against hers again. This time, it was not so gentle as it was passionate. He brought her lower lip in between his teeth, before giving it a soft little suckle – his tongue running out to meet hers in an explosion of passion. Her hands moved to his chest, gripping onto the collar of his shirt as he soon felt her leg hook around his waist.

For the next few minutes, it had been a constant battle of teeth, tongue, saliva, and lips. George was beginning to forget where his tongue ended and hers began. Was he still breathing? More important, was Aurora still breathing? Neither of them had parted for air.

Letting his hand move to her hip, George pulled his lips from hers and let out a shaky breath.

“Wow.”

Aurora’s cheeks were bright red, her fingers gripping onto his shoulder keeping her chest pressed to his. Her leg was still locked over his hip, keeping her hips pressed to his. She knew going any further would be a mistake. She wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t want to ruin what they had. But she knew she had wanted to kiss him for his birthday.

Aurora moved to now lay her head into the crook of his neck. Her leg unhooked itself from up around his waist before moving in between his so she could cuddle even closer to him – their legs now tangled with one another.

“Happy Birthday, Georgie.”


	16. Gotta Start Somewhere

When Aurora’s eyes fluttered open after trying her best to ignore the hot sun piercing her skin, she had to think for a moment about her surroundings. “Where the hell am I?” She groaned, shifting to the side a bit, her body sore from sleeping on a hard floor.

She had a blanket wrapped around her body, but she didn’t remember falling asleep with it. “Why the hell am I on the floor?” She asked herself out loud, shifting to sit up before she saw George sitting on the armchair with two mugs of steaming hot tea in his hands. He was grinning widely down at Aurora, watching her wake up a bit confused. _Godric, she is bloody adorable._ He thought to himself, moving to lean forward and hand her one of the mugs.

“Good Morning.”

“Why am I on the floor? Why didn’t you pick me up and put me in your bloody bed?” She groaned, though a small smile was forming on her lips as she took a sip of the tea. The hot ceramic felt nice in her hands. It was certainly helping with waking her up. She had always been a terrible, deep sleeper.

“I passed out at the same time you did, don’t think I just left you on the floor alone!” George rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his own mug of tea before shifting himself to sit on the floor in front of her. “Did you sleep ok? Now you’re making me feel bad that I didn’t move us to the bedroom.” George smirked, nudging her foot with his.

“I slept fine but my back is just a bit sore…but that’s ok. Trust me, I’ve slept in worst conditions than cuddled up on a floor with my best friends’ brother.” She sighed, chewing on her lower lip before looking down into the mug. She was starting to blush and was slightly embarrassed by initiating the kind of contact they had last night.

“Do you regret last night?” He seemed genuinely concerned that she was regretting kissing him and that was killing him.

“No!” She shook her head and now moved to her knees as she set the mug down. Her hands reached forward and gently swept a few strands of his hair off from his forehead. “Not at all.” She whispered, leaning down and pressing her lips against his forehead. She just could not stop herself. She was craving his touch. What the bloody hell has gotten into her? She had no clue.

George let his eyes flutter shut as the sudden touch of her fingertips and then her lips against his forehead. “I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to check. I know we had been drinking. I didn’t want you to feel as though I forced you to do anything you didn’t want to.” George told her, his hands moving on their own accord now. He gently brushed along the sides of her thighs, a smile forming on his lips as he noticed her visibly shiver at his touch. His hands soon found their way to her hips, tugging her closer to him, helping her straddle his waist. She obliged and didn’t put up a fight. Her hands moving to settle against his chest as she looked down at her with her big blue eyes. Those eyes would be the death of him. Now with the morning sun shining brightly into the room and landing on them, her eyes were the brightest he had ever seen them. Truly mesmerizing.

“George,” She began, a hint of doubt could be heard in her voice as she started to play with the collar of his shirt. “We should talk about this. About us.” She cleared her throat, “I’m not looking to, uh,” She started fumbling with her words. She was starting to panic. Would he laugh at her trying to say she just wanted to be friends…who maybe kissed a little? Maybe he didn’t want the same thing. Maybe he kissed her back because he felt bad that she technically offered herself up as his birthday present. “I don’t want a relationship. At least not right now. I’m really enjoying our time together, George,” She leaned forward and pecked his forehead again. “And I know we’re both working on ourselves. And I don’t want any kind of label to add on anymore stress than we can both handle.”

George stayed silent, his hands staying firm on her hips. His thumbs brushed back and forth, over her shirt, against her sides. He could see the way her eyes darted from side to side, taking in all of him – trying to read him. He did his best to keep his face indifferent. “Rory, relax.” He let a smile form on his lips. His hands moved to her back, gently rubbing circles as they moved to tangle in the ends of her hair. “I don’t want to label…this. Us. I mean, I know that you know…there is an _us._ ” He said softly, a smile forming on his lips as he leaned up and pecked a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. “We can be friends who maybe sometimes…kiss and stuff.” He shrugged, a laugh escaping from him as he looked up at her.

“Kiss and stuff?” She repeated, raising an eyebrow in the air as her head tilted to the side. “Friends who kiss. Only kiss… until I say otherwise.” She said, biting on her bottom lip as she leaned back a bit, holding her hand out to him. George looked down at her hand in between them. Another laugh escaped his lips. “Merlin, is this a business deal?” He questioned, letting go of her with one hand as he moved to grasp her hand in his and give it a firm shake.

“Kissing you is certainly not business, Georgie.” She told him with a grin, leaning down and pressing her lips against his own again. Aurora found herself lost in his touch again. She tried to keep the friction between them at a minimum, her hands grasping onto his shoulders to keep her steady in his lap. They had both been so wrapped up in each other that neither of them heard the floo roar to life. What finally caused them to pull apart, and sudden enough that George practically shoved Aurora off of his lap and to the ground as he stared up at Ginny and Ron standing before the fireplace.

Ron stood there in silence, looking absolutely mortified. Ginny, on the other hand, had a large grin on her face as she bounced on her heels. “Bloody hell!” She exclaimed, covering her mouth and pointing to the ground at her brother and best friend. “I knew it! Did you spend the night you little minx?!”

Aurora’s face was beet red now, her eyes glancing between all three Weasley siblings before she pushed herself up off the ground. She would have to remember to give George a good punch, or something, for throwing her off of his lap so quickly. “Strictly innocent!” Aurora almost shouted, shaking her head as she looked at Ginny. George soon pulled himself up to stand beside Aurora. “No funny business, I swear it.” George moved to make an ‘x’ shape over his chest and held a hand up as if swearing an oath in front of the Wizengamot.

Ginny pouted. “Oh… boo. You’re both boring.” She sighed, moving to set a small box down before wrapping her arms around George. “Happy Birthday.”

Ron was still standing by the fireplace, a bit mortified to have floo’d into his brothers living room while he was snogging and groping at Aurora. His cheeks were still a faint shade of red, though he soon pulled himself out of it and hugged his brother after Ginny stepped over to Aurora. They were all going to see each other later at the Burrow for dinner, but they had wanted to stop by and give George a present without the prying eyes of their other family members. “Sorry for intruding…” Ron said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he plopped down onto the couch.

“You weren’t intruding.” George and Aurora both spoke up at the same time, smiling at each other. George moved to sit beside his brother as Aurora moved to gather the glasses from both last night and this morning and bringing them out in the kitchen. Ginny, of course, followed her. “Not intruding?” She repeated, eyeing her friend from the side of the sink as she leaned against the counter.

Aurora let out a soft sigh, washing the cups and setting them in the drying rack. “Fine. You intruded.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked over at her best friend. “Before you floo to your parents and tell your Mum, take a deep breath.” Aurora laughed softly, chewing on her bottom lip. “We’re not together. Just friends. Who kiss? Sometimes?” She shrugged her shoulders, watching the look of pure amusement wash over Ginny’s features. Aurora was almost regretting getting into this little agreement with George. How were they going to explain this to other people? She didn’t want to be looked at as if she was a woman of loose morals… Well, she sort of was a woman of loose morals. Or at least had been before.

“Well, you’ve got to start somewhere.”


	17. Stolen Kisses

_“I couldn't want you any more_  
Kiss in the kitchen like it's a dance floor  
I couldn't want you any more tonight”

_\- Sunflower, Vol. 6, Harry Styles_

\-- -- -- 

Aurora had left quickly after Ron and Ginny showed up at George’s flat. She had to practically talk all three siblings into letting her leave alone. She wanted time to think about everything and getting the chance to walk the rest of Diagon Alley until she got to muggle London would help. She had secretly pressed her lips to George’s as he walked her to the hallway and stairs leading to the shop. Wishing him another happy birthday, she turned and walked off.

The walk to muggle London did a lot to clear her mind. She wasn’t sure what she was truly getting herself into. Was this a mistake? George seemed to be in agreeance with her decision to be friends who sometimes snog one another. As long as she didn’t shag him the first chance, they had…she should be ok. Right? Shaking her head and removing all thoughts of George and what he looked like beneath his clothes, Aurora found herself finally back in her own flat. She showered, fixed up her hair and face with minimal makeup before finding a comfortable outfit of blue jeans and a black and white striped long sleeve t-shirt. Slipping her feet into her white trainers, Aurora sat on the edge of her bed and let out a loud sigh.

She originally had not gotten George anything for his birthday. After all, she told him last night – with her lips – that she was his present. _Bloody hell, what is wrong with me?_ Aurora chewed on her lower lip as she stared at the small box on her bed beside her. She couldn’t answer the questions about why she got him a cellular phone. She knew Arthur would go bananas, so she told herself she would give it to him in secret. She was still firm in her decision to remain in the muggle world. She had certainly gotten better, and more comfortable, around magic again. But to pack up what she was doing here and move back to strictly be in the wizarding world? She couldn’t see herself doing that. After all, she had promised George she would introduce him to the muggle world. What better way than buying him a phone so that they can communicate with one another when she was back in her own world.

\-- -- --

By six in the evening, the burrow was fully alive with birthday celebrations for George. Aurora had met George at his flat beforehand and used the floo. She made sure to leave his birthday present there, hiding it by his couch so she could have him open it when they returned later that night. Dinner was delicious, and soon as Aurora and Molly brought out the cake for George, she found herself walking off along the grounds surrounding the home. It was a nice and quiet evening. That was one thing she did miss about living in Ottery St Catch Pole… London was far too noisy for her to ever get a moment of silence. Holding the glass of wine by her chest, Aurora stopped by the pond, letting her eyes roam over the still water.

“Why’d you run off?”

Turning at the sound, Aurora smiled softly when she spotted George. “I didn’t run off!” She told him, taking a small sip of wine, the carbonation making the tip of her tongue tingle. “It’s been a while since I’ve had any peace and quiet. And I forgot how much I loved being out here in the country.”

George closed the distance between the two, moving to reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t think I’m helping the peace and quiet bit, am I?” He joked, beaming down at her as she looked up at him, refusing to break eye contact. “There will never be peace and quiet where George Weasley is.” She laughed, turning back a bit to look out at the water, leaning her body into his side. George took that as a cue and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in against him. Her body fit perfectly besides his. He started to wonder how long he would be able to go with just being allowed to kiss her. He wanted to do so much more. He wanted to give her so much more. He would learn to be patient, of course. At this moment, though, it seemed that patience may be unattainable for George.

“Are you enjoying your birthday?” She asked, finishing the wine before leaning her head up to look at him. “And the cake? Was it ok?” Her arm wound its way around his waist, her hand gripping onto his side to keep her pulled against him.

“The cake was delicious.” He whispered, leaning down a bit to press his lips against her forehead. “This has been the first birthday in four years that I have been able to enjoy. Truly, I mean that,” He squeezed her shoulder before looking out ahead of them. “It’s never going to be as it was, I know that much. But I’m very, very grateful that you’re in my life, Aurora.” George moved to now have both of his arms wrapped around her. He pulled her into his chest and let his head rest down against the top of hers, breathing in her scent. Even her hair smelled amazing. His eyes fluttered shut as he held her flush against him, “I mean that. I’m not sure yankin’ your chain or trying to butter you up to get something out of you.” He joked with a soft laugh.

“Well, good. I’m happy you enjoyed it. “ She responded, wrapping her arms tight around his middle as they started swaying back and forth slowly. Her fingertips were starting to trace patterns along his back before she pulled back from him. “I was thinking,” She cleared her throat, biting on her bottom lip out of nervousness now. “I think we should do something for Fred.” She didn’t pull back far enough to look at his face. Honestly, she was scared he would freak out at her for mentioning Fred.

George was silent. His arms loosening a bit from her – only to let his hands grasp her hips. “Really?” He whispered, looking down at her and lifting one hand from her hip so he could nudge her chin with his fingers, lifting her head so she was facing him. “Yes, of course George. Even if he’s not here… he will always be a part of you. I was thinking maybe some fireworks?” A smile started forming on her lips as she looked up at George. He was already staring down at her, both hands now moving to cup the sides of her face.

What could he have ever possibly done to get so lucky? George truly didn’t understand. If he wasn’t mistaken, he was an absolute arse to Aurora when she first started coming around a few months ago. Somewhere in between the ice around his heart started melting away. He found himself concerned with Aurora’s wellbeing, concerned that she wasn’t taking care of herself when he was really in no shape himself. George began to lose track of time – staring down at Aurora with an immense feeling of pride and joy.

“George? Are you ok? Say something, please.” Aurora pleaded, moving to place her hands over his and pull them from her face, grasping onto them tightly. “Did I say something wrong?” She whispered, her eyes now starting to fill up with tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks but not yet doing so.

“Godric, no. You didn’t do or say anything wrong.” George shook his head and laced their fingers together. “Quite the opposite really.” He told her, a smile forming on his lips before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. “I think I have some fireworks up in the attic. Let’s go back to the house. I’ll grab them and you can get everyone outside, yeah?”

Aurora nodded eagerly, lifting one of his hands to her lips, brushing her lips against the back of his hand slowly.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Another fifteen minutes passed by – George had gone to the attic and gathered any remaining fireworks he had leftover. Aurora had been able to gather everyone outside – the entire Weasley clan, including Charlie, who had been able to take a day from work to come back for his brothers birthday. Aurora was standing beside George, who was playing around with the fireworks before setting them down on the ground, in the middle of the group, who had now all moved back to form a half circle around the display.

As George set the fireworks off, Aurora reached forward and grabbed onto his hand. She pulled him to her side and smiled up at him before holding her glass that was now topped off with more wine.

“To Fred.”

George clutched tightly onto her hand, almost shaking as he watched the fireworks pop off in the sky. Although he was sad, thinking about his brother, he felt warmth from holding Aurora’s hand, and also from the love of his family surrounding him.

Everyone joined in, raising their glasses. “To Fred.”

Aurora smiled and took a sip of the wine, squeezing George’s hand and leaning her head down on his upper arm. He was too tall for her to reach his shoulder so this would have to do for now. The fireworks were beautiful. Loud in both sound and color. Aurora kept her eyes trained on the sky, watching the different explosions until there was nothing left but sparks floating down around them. Everyone had said their goodnights and goodbyes soon after that. Aurora quietly explained to Ginny that she would be ok getting home, since she would floo back to George’s flat with him.

“Here, before I leave,” Aurora stepped delicately away from the fireplace, brushing off her shoulders a bit as she picked up the box sitting on the couch. George was right behind her, his hand resting on her lower back. “What is this? You didn’t need to get me anything, Aurora.” He sighed, taking the box and sitting down beside her on the couch.

“Nonsense… Plus, it’s something you really need. Well, actually, something I want you to need.” She laughed softly, urging him to open the gift. Once the wrapping was ripped to shreds and on the floor, George pulled the top of the box open and looked over at her in shock. “Is this what I think it is?” He asked, reaching in and picking up the cellular device. It was sleek and shiny, and from what Arthur had talked about, it had to be one of the newest models to come out. “Oh, Rory, you didn’t need to. This looks expensive!” George leaned over and pecked her cheek innocently.

Aurora grinned. “Well, now I can bug you at any time of the day or not. You know, when we’re not together, that is.” She told him, moving to take the phone now and turn it on. “It’s already programmed with my number.” She explained, pointing to the little screen as she pressed buttons and maneuvered the menu and contact list to show him how to get to her number. They sat there for another hour, ignoring the fact that it was now close to midnight. She showed him how to send text messages, and how to call her. She showed him the camera, too, which was something that blew his mind. “So these will be like those… muggle photos you have in your flat?”

Aurora nodded in response, “Yes, they won’t move. Here, I’ll show you.” She took his phone and leaned into his side. “Smile. No funny faces, ok?” She grinned, holding the phone out as far as she could before leaning her head against his shoulder and smiled before clicking the button to initiate a photo. Turning the phone around, she let out a groan. “You’re not smiling, Georgie!” She exclaimed, chewing on her lower lip as she stared down at the screen. She had a big cheesy grin on her face, whereas George had his arm looped around her shoulders and his attention was on her. He didn’t even bother looking at the phone. Aurora could feel the heat rise in her cheeks as she peered up at him through thick lashes. “It’s still cute, though. I’m going to make it your background. So now… if you try to act cool in front of other girls, they’ll think you have a girlfriend.” She giggled, clicking a few buttons as she made the photo his background.

“Well, that’s messed up. I didn’t take you for a cock block, Sinclair.” George joked, nudging her with his elbow before taking the phone and setting it down on the table beside him. “But, all jokes aside,” He turned to face her, grasping her hands in his. “Thank you. I know I told you earlier. But this was the best birthday in a very long time.”

Aurora smiled back at him. Her eyes focusing on his before she glanced down at his lips. “You’re welcome, Georgie. You deserve the best.” She whispered, finding herself slowly closing the distance between them. She crawled up and onto his lap, moving one leg over so she could straddle him. Settling herself down against his hips, her hands moved up his arms and onto either side of his neck. “I guess since there’s a few more minutes left of your birthday, you can have a continuation of your other present.” She teased.

George tried to keep a straight face as he felt her pulled herself down onto his lap. His hands found their way to her sides, rubbing up and down for a moment before they settled further down on her backside. “Is this ok?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes.” Aurora nodded eagerly.

Her hands moved up through his hair. On the left side of his head, where he had lost his ear, her fingertips danced around the scarred flesh delicately. Her eyes never leaving his as she leaned in and brushed her lips against his. Soon, they lost themselves in a passionate embrace. Her arms wrapped around his neck as her lips parted, inviting him in with a soft moan. The feeling of his tongue brushing against hers sent chills down her spine. His hands grabbed gently on her backside, absently moving her hips to grind down against his own.

At first, he was scared he had done too much. He almost pulled away but when Aurora let out a soft mewl at the contact, he figured this was something she was consenting to. They continued this for a few more minutes before George pulled back. His eyes a bit hazy as his head leaned on the back of the couch. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he moved to gently run his hands along Aurora’s sides. Her body leaning into his for comfort and warmth.

“Best. Birthday. Ever.”


End file.
